Origins of the British claim The South Georgia archipelago was first claimed for Great Britain by
James Cook in January 1775, having been previously discovered by
Anthony de la Roché. However, the British did little to enforce this claim until 1843, when
Letters Patent was issued to provide for the government of the islands, which were to be governed as a
Falkland Islands Dependency. These were revised in 1876 and 1892. In 1908, following inquiries regarding the sovereignty of the area currently covered by the
British Antarctic Territory from the
Norwegian government, the British government stated that the islands were British, and issued Letters Patent to include "
South Orkney, South Georgia and
South Shetland islands, and
Graham Land situated in the South Atlantic Ocean to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude and lying between the
20th and
80th degrees of west longitude" as
Falkland Islands Dependencies. It was made clear at this time that the association with the Falkland Islands was intended as an administrative convenience. As it had been observed within the British government that a literal interpretation of this claim would include parts of the South American mainland, the letters patent were clarified on 28 March 1917, redefining the limits to exclude all territories north of
58°S and west of
50°W, but to otherwise include all land in this region. Though the Argentine government was given details of the 1908 letters patent (at their request), neither Argentina nor
Chile objected to either claim. In 1906, the CAP signed a lease with the Falkland Islands government, Larsen adopted British citizenship in 1910. Argentina's first explicit claim to South Georgia was made in 1927 and to the South Sandwich Islands in 1938.
Later developments Following the Argentine claims, the UK offered (in 1947, 1951, 1953 and 1954) to take the matter to the
International Court of Justice in The Hague but this was turned down by Argentina. When the United Kingdom took the issue to the court unilaterally in 1955, Argentina declined to cooperate, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The British divided the Falkland Islands dependencies in 1962, in accordance with the newly signed
Antarctic Treaty. Those areas south of
60°S became the
British Antarctic Territory, while the remainder – South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands – retained their previous status.
Falklands War Argentina established a base,
Corbeta Uruguay, on
Thule Island at the far south of the South Sandwich Islands in November 1976. When this base was discovered by the British that December, the British protested diplomatically, and sent a task force (
Operation Journeyman) to protect the Falkland Islands from potential invasion. On 19 March 1982, a group of 50 Argentines posing as
scrap metal merchants landed at
Leith Harbour on South Georgia aboard the
ARA Bahía Buen Suceso and hoisted the
Argentine flag. The British government responded by sending
HMS Endurance with 22
Royal Marines to expel the Argentines, but they were held off to avoid increasing the tension. Further Argentine troops, led by Lieutenant
Alfredo Astiz (known as the "blond angel of death") were landed and the British set up a station to monitor the activities there. Argentine forces
invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982 and took
Grytviken the following day, leaving 44 marines. The garrison at Leith Harbour surrendered the following day, and Corbeta Uruguay surrendered on 20 June 1982. It was demolished that December.
Current status The United Kingdom has administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands separately from the Falklands since the islands were made a
British dependent territory in their own right in 1985. == Current claims ==