area 4622 km²/1784 sq mi. Group of mountainous islands in the S Atlantic, NW of the Graham Peninsula, c.880 km/550 mi SE of Cape Horn; main islands King George, Elephant, Clarence, Gibbs, Nelson, Livingston, Greenwich, Snow, Deception, Smith; discovered in 1819; occasionally used for scientific bases.
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula. Prior to 1961, the Islands were claimed by the United Kingdom (since 1908, as part of the Falkland Islands Dependency), Chile (since 1940), and Argentina (since 1943).
History
According to some historians the Dutchman Dirck Gerritsz in 1599, and the Spaniard Gabriel de Castilla in 1603 may have been the first to see any Antarctic lands, both of them supposedly sailing south of the Drake Passage in the South Shetland Islands area.
Already on 15 November 1819 the American agent in Valparaíso, Jeremy Robinson informed the US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams of Smith’s discovery and Bransfield’s forthcoming mission, and suggested the dispatch of a US government ship to explore the islands where “new sources of wealth, power and happiness would be disclosed and science itself be benefited thereby.”
The discovery of the islands attracted English and American sealers. The ship arrived to Rugged Island off Livingston Island, where its English crew landed on Christmas Day 1819, and claimed the islands for King George III;
The first overwintering in Antarctica took place on the South Shetlands, when at the end of the 1820/21 summer season eleven Englishmen from the ship Lord Melville failed to leave King George Island, and successfully survived throughout the austral winter to be rescued at the beginning of the next season. The Russians surveyed the islands and gave them Russian names, landing on both King George Island and Elephant Island.
The name "New South Britain" was used briefly, but was soon changed to South Shetland Islands (in reference to the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland).
Seal hunting and whaling took place on the islands in the 19th and early 20th century, but the islands have only been occupied since the establishment of a scientific research station in 1944.
Geography
As a group of islands, the South Shetland Islands are located at 62°00′S 058°00′W. The highest point on the island chain is Mount Foster on Smith Island at 2105 metres above sea level.
The South Shetland Islands extend about 280 miles from Smith Island and Snow Island in the west-southwest to Elephant Island and Clarence Island in the east-northeast.
Islands
From north to south the main and some minor islands of the South Shetlands are:
Cornwallis Island (minor) Elephant Island (Mordvinova by Russia) Clarence Island (Shishkova by Russia) Rowett Island (minor) Gibbs Island (minor) King George Island (the largest, called May 25 island by Argentina, or Vaterloo by Russia) Bridgeman Island (minor) Penguin Island (minor - one of several Penguin Islands in the Antarctic region) Nelson Island (Leipzig by Russia) Robert Island (Polotsk by Russia) Aitcho Islands (minor) Greenwich Island (Berezina by Russia) Half Moon Island (minor) Desolation Island (minor) Livingston Island (second largest, Smolensk by Russia) Rugged Island (minor - one of several in the Antarctic region) Snow Island (one of several in the Antarctic region; Maly Yaroslavets by Russia) Smith Island (Borodino by Russia) Deception Island (Teylya by Russia) Low Island Seal Island (minor)(The Russian names above are historical, and no longer the official Russian names of the relevant islands.)
Research Stations
Several nations maintain research stations on the Islands:
Argentina - Jubany (since 1953) Bulgaria - St. Kliment Ohridski (since 1988) Brazil - Comandante Ferraz Base (since 1984) Chile - Presidente Eduardo Frei Base (since 1969) Chile - Professor Julio Escudero Base (since 1884) Chile - Arturo Prat Base (since 1947) Chile/USA - Shirreff Base (since 1990) China - Chang Cheng / Great Wall (since 1985) Ecuador - Pedro Vicente Maldonado Base (since 1990) Spain - Juan Carlos I Base (since 1988) Spain - Gabriel de Castilla Base (since 1989) Republic of Korea - King Sejong Station (since 1988) Peru - Machu Picchu Research Station (since 1989) Poland - Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station (since 1977) Russia - Bellingshausen Station (since 1968) Uruguay - General Artigas Station (since 1984)
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