December 27 – Stanley Sports Day in the Falkland Islands

Posted on December 27, 2015

The last time I wrote about the Falkland Islands, I concentrated on their history and the 1982 invasion... Today, on Stanley Sports Day, I want to talk about life on the Falklands.

The Falkland Islands are in the South Atlantic, about 300 miles (480 km) off the coast of Argentina. 

Although Argentina has formally lodged a claim to the islands, the United Kingdom still claims the islands as an oversees territory. 

Of course, the Falkland Islanders do have self-rule.



The islands are fairly close to Antarctica, so they have plenty of penguins, which are a huge tourist attraction. 

Even Prince Charles wanted to see the penguins while he was visiting!

The islands are also home or temporary home to loads of other sorts of birds. 


Most of the Islanders have a Scottish or Welsh heritage, and the two biggest economic pursuits, aside from tourism, are fishing and sheep farming.

There must be at least one sculptor - I like this solar system model! Earth is really, really tiny, compared to the Sun!


Speaking of tourism, I read that Mount Longdon, which is beautiful in a windswept desolation sort of way, was the site of some of the most intense fighting in that 1982 invasion—and I read that the battlefield hasn't been touched since the end of the war. Tourists commonly visit the beautiful and sobering site.




In addition to the usual stained glass windows, one of the churches in the Falkland Islands is decorated with a whalebone arch.


Stanley Sports Day itself looks like fun:





Also on this date:



























Kwanzaa (from 12/26/11 to 1/1/12)













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