# What's the Deal with the Falkland Islands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629 "2012-01-25T19:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/341 "2013-03-11T13:35:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Technically, Argentina didn’t have to convince the Falklanders back in 1980 that transferring the islands from British to Argentinian control would have been a good idea. They only needed to convince the British that it was a good idea and the Falklanders wouldn’t have had a real choice in the outcome. Argentina should have been taking notes when China discussed the future of Hong Kong with the British. The Hong Kong handover was a bit different. Britain asserted sovereignty over Hong Kong island, but Kowloon side and the New Territories were only _leased_. It would have been impractical to maintain Hong Kong as a colony without Kowloon. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/342 "2013-03-11T21:23:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The Hong Kong handover was a bit different. Britain asserted sovereignty over Hong Kong island, but Kowloon side and the New Territories were only _leased_. It would have been impractical to maintain Hong Kong as a colony without Kowloon. This is incorrect. Kowloon was not leased; only the New Territories. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/343 "2013-03-12T02:34:30Z")
Well, it looks like the referendum was a close-run thing… > **[Falklands referendum: Voters choose to remain UK territory](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21750909)** > > The people of the Falkland Islands overwhelmingly vote to remain a British territory and the UK government urges "all countries" to respect their wishes. Three votes against the status quo, out of 1517 cast, and a turnout of greater than 90%. I imagine that Argentina will gracefully acknowledge the result, and move on to removing the beam from its own eye. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/344 "2013-03-12T02:47:04Z")
I’m going with Argentina not fully accepting the results of the referendum. Just a hunch. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/345 "2013-03-12T03:18:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Well Roger Waters is pretty much the angriest man in the world, doubly so in situations regarding armed conflicts. I love his music but I wouldn’t take him seriously in terms of international conflict and diplomacy. His early life experiences have skewed his worldview, which is a source for his great art but not a foundation for a balanced foreign policy. > > I mean, what notice would the Argentinians take of Morrissey commenting on their meat-packing industry? they may consider him just a _tad_ biased. (bonus points awarded for spotting the Floyd reference here) Meat packing glitterati? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/346 "2013-03-12T03:30:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m going with Argentina not fully accepting the results of the referendum. Just a hunch. No bet. Argentina obviously knew it was going to lose the referendum and has already been laying the groundwork for declaring it meaningless. Baron Greenback’s link quotes the Argentinian argument: the people living on the islands shouldn’t be there in the first place because it’s Argentinian territory. Therefore they shouldn’t be allowed to vote on whether or not the islands should be Argentinian territory. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/347 "2013-03-12T03:35:55Z")
Why, that makes perfect sense! :: begins braining self with penguin :: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/348 "2013-03-12T05:44:43Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Oh, am I thinking of the exclusive economic zone then? Is that 200 nautical miles? Anyway, point is, the Falklands are beyond that. > > (See that’s why I need this thread, better make sure I have my own facts straight!) And in any event, the [200 mile zone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone#Origin) is a new development in international law. It’s only been formally recognized by international law in the late 20th century; can’t see how it can be used to try to challenge a sovereignty claim that dates back to the 1830s. > [@](#): > > The idea of allotting nations EEZs to give better control of maritime affairs outside territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century. > > Initially, a country’s sovereign territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km (range of cannon shot) beyond the shore. In modern times, a country’s sovereign territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles (~22 km) beyond the shore. One of the first assertions of exclusive jurisdiction beyond the traditional territorial seas was made by the United States of America in the Truman Proclamation of September 28, 1945. However, it was Chile and Peru respectively that first claimed maritime zones of 200 nautical miles with the Presidential Declaration Concerning Continental Shelf of 23 June 1947 (El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, 29 June 1947) and Presidential Decree No. 781 of 1 August 1947 (El Peruano: Diario Oficial. Vol. 107, No. 1983, 11 August 1947).[5] > > It was not until 1982 with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone was formally adopted … ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/349 "2013-03-12T10:09:00Z")
So the oil… If the Falklands raise their own taxes etc, the oil is theirs, rather than Britain’s, right? I mean Britain will probably not do badly out of it, but it’s not like they own that oil? Or do they? The Falklands have their own oil & gas company, they’re sorting it all out for themselves pretty much, right? I just want to check, because I keep hearing about “colonial practices” etc, but as an overseas territory the Falklands seem rather independent to make that claim (esp. when the claim is "I don’t want you to colonise it, because I want to colonise it). If they are totally in charge of their own oil reserves that also rather negates the claim that Britain wants to cling on because of the oil. If Argentina got hold of the islands, presumably they would be in charge of the oil and not the islanders independently? BTW no dice with the professor, she worded everything far to carefully for me to stand up and shout “shenanigans!” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/350 "2013-03-12T10:41:18Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Meat packing glitterati? Yes, and bonus point for persistence! (I’d forgotten I’d even posted that) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/351 "2013-03-13T02:35:53Z")
The Falkland Islands is a fake “conflict” because 99.99999% of the agitation comes from people who do not live there. The Argentine side just seems to have a lot of supporters among a certain snarky type of European who carries a grudge against the UK. In fact, in that respect it has much in common with the Middle East - another fake conflict in my humble opinion (it shouldn’t be anything more significant than another Cyprus). I can’t decide which of these two is the stupidest “conflict” on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/352 "2013-03-13T02:49:05Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > The Falkland Islands is a fake “conflict” because 99.99999% of the agitation comes from people who do not live there. The Argentine side just seems to have a lot of supporters among a certain snarky type of European who carries a grudge against the UK. > > In fact, in that respect it has much in common with the Middle East - another fake conflict in my humble opinion (it shouldn’t be anything more significant than another Cyprus). I can’t decide which of these two is the stupidest “conflict” on the planet. I am interested in your comments and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/353 "2013-03-13T02:49:51Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > The Falkland Islands is a fake “conflict” because 99.99999% of the agitation comes from people who do not live there. The Argentine side just seems to have a lot of supporters among a certain snarky type of European who carries a grudge against the UK. > > . And certain self-hating Britons. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/354 "2013-03-13T02:50:41Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > The Falkland Islands is a fake “conflict” because 99.99999% of the agitation comes from people who do not live there. The Argentine side just seems to have a lot of supporters among a certain snarky type of European who carries a grudge against the UK. > > In fact, in that respect it has much in common with the Middle East - another fake conflict in my humble opinion (it shouldn’t be anything more significant than another Cyprus). I can’t decide which of these two is the stupidest “conflict” on the planet. The Falklands is a million times stupider. Cyprus actually has people on the island itself who are opposed (viciously) to each other’s residence there. The Falklands are, pretty much unanimously, happy to be what they are now. They are quite a distance from Argentina, so it’s not like their existence interferes with Argentina’s enjoyment of their own country; I know it looks close on a globe, but they’re three times as far from Argentina as Cuba is from the USA, by way of comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/355 "2013-03-14T12:57:22Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And certain self-hating Britons. And the occasional deluded American movie star: [Sean Penn Falklands dispute: Save us from stars who think they're world statesmen | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2101776/Sean-Penn-Falklands-dispute-Save-stars-think-theyre-world-statesmen.html) BTW, here’s what the new Pope said when he spoke about the Falklands last year: [Falkland Islanders greet election of Argentine as Pope Francis with surprise | The Independent | The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/falkland-islanders-greet-election-of-argentine-as-pope-francis-i-with-surprise-8533715.html) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/356 "2013-03-14T13:45:38Z")
For anyone not wanting to read the whole article, he is quoted thusly: > [@](#): > > In a mass in Buenos Aires last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1982 invasion by Argentine forces, the then still cardinal told veterans: “We come to pray for those who have fallen, sons of the country who went out to defend their mother country, to reclaim that which is theirs and was usurped from them.” > > Three years earlier, Cardinal Borgoglio told the families of Argentine soldiers killed in the conflict before they travelled to the military cemetery on the islands: “Go and kiss this land which is ours, and seem to us far away.” Maybe he’ll stop saying dumb things now that he represents a broader congregation, but I’m not holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/357 "2013-03-14T13:51:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Maybe he’ll stop saying dumb things now that he represents a broader congregation, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m trying to come up with a Henry VIII joke here, but I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/358 "2013-03-15T03:34:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’m trying to come up with a Henry VIII joke here, but I got nothin’. Maybe something about him asking the new Pope for a divorce from his 7th wive, Evita? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/359 "2013-03-15T12:01:36Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Maybe something about him asking the new Pope for a divorce from his 7th wive, Evita? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629/360 "2013-03-15T19:36:37Z")
Of course, if Argentina goes to war over las Malvinas, again, it’ll be the first war in history where we _actually_ know which side God is on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-the-falkland-islands/610629.md?page=19)