The legitimacy of Britain's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and their Dependencies is historically and legally incontrovertible.

The first known sighting of the Falkland Islands was in 1592 by the British explorer John Davis in his ship Desire, from which the Islands take their motto, 'Desire the Right'. The first recorded landing was made in 1690 by the crew of the British sloop Welfare, commanded by Captain Strong. The Islands were uninhabited until that time. The first British settlement was established in 1766. There followed a period of almost 70 years during which several countries, including Britain, France, Spain and the Spanish Viceroyalty of the River Plate established small, temporary settlements on the Islands, none of them lasting for more than a few years.

It was not until 1833, when Britain eventually assumed control of the Islands, that a permanent settlement was established, at Port Louis. Since then, and at the expressed wish of the Falkland Islanders, the Islands have been governed continuously, peacefully and effectively by Britain - apart from a brief period of occupation by invading Argentine forces in 1982.

Among the occasional visitors to the Islands during the early years of their settlement was Charles Darwin, who twice arrived on the Beagle in the early 1830s to study the geology and wildlife. He commented, also, on the mass of shipwrecks on the Islands' shores, a consequence of the archipelago's closeness to Cape Horn and the roaring forties which treated sailing vessels so cruelly.

In the years that followed, the community quickly became stable and disciplined. In 1845, the settlement was moved from Port Louis to Stanley, on the southern shore of Jackson Harbour, which remains the capital to this day. By the time the Republic of Argentina was established in 1853, the Falkland Islands had been under effective British rule for twenty years.

The early settlers relied for their living on sealing, whaling and the killing of wild cattle, herds of which roamed East Falkland. Quite soon, though, sheep farming - for wool, rather than for mutton - became the mainstay of the economy.

The Falkland Islands demonstrated their strategic significance in both World Wars. In December 1914, a Royal Naval squadron from Stanley defeated the German fleet at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, regaining control of the South Atlantic. In December 1939, the Royal Navy again regained control of the South Atlantic when a Royal Naval squadron defeated the German pocket battleship Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate, the British cruisers repairing to Stanley after the action.

On 2 April, 1982, Argentine armed forces launched a massive and unprovoked invasion of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The small Royal Marine garrison and the local volunteer force were overwhelmed. Four days later, a Task Force left Britain to recover the Islands, the first troops landing at San Carlos on May 21. Fierce fighting followed on land, at sea and in the air. The Argentine forces surrendered to the British on 14 June. The war claimed 258 British lives, including those of three Falkland Islands civilians.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands were discovered by Captain Cook in 1775. He landed on and took formal possession of South Georgia, but there was no landing on the South Sandwich Islands until 1818 when they were visited by seal hunters. British claims in the South Atlantic and Antarctica were consolidated by Letters Patent in 1908, receipt of which was acknowledged by the Argentine Government without protest. Since then, the territories have been under continuous British administration. Although they are British Dependent Territories, legally separate from the Falkland Islands, their affairs are managed from the Falklands.