area 620 km²/239 sq mi. Group of islands in the S Atlantic, NE of the Graham Peninsula; main islands Coronation, Signy, Laurie, Inaccessible; used by British and US whalers since 1821; barren and uninhabited, apart from scientific research; claimed by Argentina.
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean. Prior to 1961, the Islands were claimed by Argentina and the United Kingdom as part of the Falkland Islands Dependency.
The United Kingdom maintains a claim to the Islands as part of the British Antarctic Territory, while Argentina claims the Islands as part of Argentine Antarctica.
History
The South Orkney Islands were discovered in 1821 by two sealers, Nathaniel Brown Palmer and George Powell. The Islands were originally named Powell's Group, with the main island named Coronation island as it was the year of the coronation of King George IV. In 1823, James Weddell visited the Islands, gave the archipelago its present name (after the Orkney Islands, Scotland) and also renamed some of the islands. Interestingly, the South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands.
Subsequently, the Islands were frequently visited by sealers and whalers, but no thorough survey was ever done until the expedition of William Speirs Bruce on the Scotia in 1903, which overwintered at Laurie Island.
In 1908, the United Kingdom unilaterally declared sovereignty over all Antarctic territory south of their colony in the Falkland Islands, including the South Orkney Islands. The Islands were then governed as part of the Falkland Islands Dependency.
In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed, suspending all sovereignty claims on Antarctic territory "south of 60 degrees 00 minutes south", including the South Orkney Islands. As a group of islands, the South Orkney Islands are located at approximately 60°35′S 045°30′W. Coronation Island is the largest island; Laurie Island is the easternmost of the islands. The other islands are the smaller Powell Island and Signy Island as well as a few tiny ones named Saddle Islands.
The Inaccessible Islands about 15 nm to the west are also considered part of the South Orkneys.
Research Stations
The two claimant nations maintain research stations on the Islands.
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