The territory was originally landed on and claimed for the British by captain James Cook in 1775, with him naming South Georgia "the Isle of Georgia" in honour of King George III, and British arrangements for the government of South Georgia were established under the 1843 British Letters Patent. The territory then became a whaling base, with a Norwegian, Carl Anton Larsen, established the first land-based whaling station and permanent habitation, Grytviken, in 1904. Seven whaling stations (Godthul, Grytviken, Husvik, Leith Harbour, Ocean Harbour, Prince Olav Harbour and Stromness) were set up on the sheltered harbor of the north coast of the island and operated under leases granted by the Governor of the Falkland Islands, until the end of whaling industry, at which point they were abandoned.
The islands were governed as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies until they were split into their own territory in 1985, with the administrative center and residence being established at King Edward Point on South Georgia in 1909. The Argentinians claimed South Georgia in 1927 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1938, and one of the sparks of The Falklands War was set here when a group of Argentinian marines disguised as scrap metal merchants occupied the abandoned whaling station at Leith Harbour on South Georgia and then attacked and captured Grytviken on 3 April 1982. The island was later recaptured by British forces on 25 April in Operation Paraquet, though Argentina still claims sovereignty over the territory.
The South Georgian/South Sandwich Islander flag
The British National Anthem
Government
- Directly administered dependency under a constitutional monarchy
- Monarch: Charles III
- Commissioner: Nigel Phillips
Miscellaneous
- Capital and largest settlement: King Edward Point
- Population: 30 (non-permanent), 0 (permanent)
- Area: 3,903 km² (1,507 sq mi)
- Currency: Falkland Islands pound (£) (FKP)
- ISO-3166-1 Code: GS
