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17-637: In 1911, The government of the Falkland Islands Dependencies granted the Hektor Whaling Company (based in Tønsberg , Norway ) a license to establish a whaling station on the coast of Deception Island . The purpose of the factory, which was built in 1912 on 500 acres of land, was to more efficiently extract oil from whale corpses. While whale fat was processed aboard factory boats, the whale's bodies were boiled at

34-505: A hospital, various production shops, storehouses, a guano mill, and a tank farm. The station even had its own cemetery, where 35 men were buried, making it the largest in Antarctica. (This cemetery was later buried by volcanic mudflow in 1970.) Hektor Station was highly profitable before World War I , but during the war, the station was temporarily closed. During the 1920s, the company was facing financial challenges, and by April 1931,

51-794: The Atlantic Ocean , the Southern Ocean , and Antarctica to the South Pole . The 20th meridian west forms a great circle with the 160th meridian east . In Antarctica , the meridian defines the border between the British Antarctic Territory and Queen Maud Land . Between the 5th parallel north and the 60th parallel south it forms the eastern boundary of the Latin American Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone . Starting at

68-611: The British Antarctic Territory , Falkland Islands , and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . 51°42′S 57°51′W  /  51.700°S 57.850°W  / -51.700; -57.850 20th meridian west Download coordinates as: The meridian 20° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean , Greenland , Iceland ,

85-549: The British Antarctic Territory , leaving in the Dependencies only the island groups of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, including Shag Rocks and Clerke Rocks . In November 1976, Argentine armed forces landed and occupied the uninhabited islands of Southern Thule , a collection of the three southernmost islands in the South Sandwich Islands. On 19 March 1982 a group of civilian scrap metal workers from Argentina arrived at Leith Harbour , South Georgia, on board

102-631: The Government of Norway in 1905–1907, Britain confirmed that the areas in question (between 35° and 80° west longitude) were British based on discoveries and issued the 1908 Letters Patent extending the Dependencies to incorporate the South Sandwich Islands and Antarctic mainland territory ( Graham Land ), with a permanent local administration in Grytviken , South Georgia, established in 1909. The territories constituting

119-756: The 80th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 58th parallel of south latitude", thus reaching the South Pole . With the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities in 1973, the Falkland Islands Dependencies became one of the EU Overseas Countries and Territories under the Treaty of Rome , a status upheld by all subsequent EU treaties. That status of association

136-782: The British letters patent of 1843, and subsequently revised in 1876, 1892, 1908, 1917 and 1962. For reasons of practical convenience the Dependencies were governed by Britain through the Falkland Islands Government . However, they constituted a distinct entity that was not part of the Falkland Islands in political or financial respects. The territorial extent of the Dependencies varied as particular territories were claimed, annexed, and commercially exploited over an extensive period of time starting with South Georgia in 1775. Responding to repeated inquiries by

153-701: The British task force arrived in Falklands waters and three days later British troops recaptured South Georgia. On 14 June, Argentine forces surrendered in the Falkland Islands ; on 20 June, British forces retook the South Sandwich Islands (which involved accepting the surrender of the Southern Thule Garrison at the Corbeta Uruguay base). In 1985 the Dependencies became the distinct British Overseas Territory of

170-558: The British territories that made up the Falkland Island Dependencies in the period between 1917 and 1962. In 1962 the British Antarctic Territory was formed following the Antarctic Treaty System affecting claims south of 60°S latitude , and left only South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as Falkland Islands Dependencies between 1962 and 1985. The arrangements were first enacted by

187-735: The Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1908 were listed by the Letters Patent as "the groups of islands known as South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, and the Sandwich Islands, and the territory known as Graham's Land, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the 20th and the 80th degrees of west longitude". In 1917,

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204-478: The Letters Patent were modified, applying the " sector principle " used in the Arctic ; the new scope of the Dependencies was extended to comprise "all islands and territories whatsoever between the 20th degree of west longitude and the 50th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 50th parallel of south latitude; and all islands and territories whatsoever between the 50th degree of west longitude and

221-410: The price of whale oil had reached a low, necessitating that Hektor Station be closed for good. In 1944, as part of Operation Tabarin , the British military established a base (Base B) in the remains of Hektor Station. This base, which conducted meteorological and geographical research, was manned until 1969, when it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Today, the site is in a state of disrepair. However,

238-402: The station on land and the oil was stored in large iron tanks. The station was most active each year from November through March, and regularly employed around 150 people. As J. Stephen Dibbern has noted, "The land factory was a complete operation needing very little in outside support other than resupply of fuels." Indeed, the site was equipped with barracks, a mess hall and kitchen, a magazine,

255-467: The station's tank farm, though "tilted and rusted", is still a prominent feature. Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Stanley . The following are

272-622: The transport ship ARA Bahía Buen Suceso and raised the Argentine flag. The scrap workers had been infiltrated by Argentine marines posing as civilian scientists. Following the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands , starting the Falklands War , Argentine naval forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken on 3 April 1982. On 22 April 1982,

289-592: Was later enjoyed by the Dependencies' successors: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Territory . The new international legal regime introduced in the Antarctic territory south of 60° south latitude by the 1961 Antarctic Treaty prompted Britain to separate the part of the Dependencies that became subject to the Treaty. That was done by a 1962 Order in Council that established

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