See also: the Shetland (homonymy)

The Shetland Islands of the South are a Archipel of the sea of Scotland; being in the south of the 60 {{E}} parallel (southern hemisphere), it is also an archipelago of the Antarctic Ocean.

Geography

The archipelago of the Shetland of the South is located at 120 km in the north of the Péninsule the Antarctic, of which it is separated by the strait from Bransfield; it delimits, with the Cape Horn, the Passage of Drake, natural sea route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

The archipelago, made up of eleven principal islands and many small islands, extends at a distance from 450  km, between 61° S and 63° 37 ' S of latitude and 53° 83 ' O and 62° 83 ' O of longitude.

Between 80 and 90  % of the surface of the islands, whose total surface area is of 3.687 km ², is covered permanently with Glace.

The culminating point of the archipelago is the Mont Foster, on the island Smith, to 2.105 m of altitude. The island of Disappointment shelters an active volcano; its form characteristic in form of Horseshoe is due to the invasion of a Caldeira by the sea.

Islands

North in the south, the islands which bear a name are:

• the island Cornwallis

• the island of the Elephant
• the island Clarence
• the island Rowett
• the island Gibbs
• the island of King-George (“island of May 25th” for the Argentinian ) is largest of the islands; it shelters the scientific base Brazilian Ordering Ferraz ;
• the island Bridgeman
• the island Penguin
• the island Nelson
• the islands Aitcho
• the island Robert
• the island Greenwich, which shelters the naval base Chilean Capitán Arturo Prat ;
• the island Halfmoon
• the island Livingston, which shelters the Bulgarian base '' St Kliment Ohridski ''
• the island Rugged
• the island Snow
• the island Smith
• the island of Disappointment
• the island Low
• the island Seal

History

In 1818, Juan Pedro de Aguirre obtained Argentine the permission to drive out in the archipelago of the Shetland of the South, which he already claimed to have visited. After a voyage on board the Spiritu Santo , its crew establishes a base on the island of Disappointment.

The British explorer William Smith arrived at the north of the archipelago on February 19th, 1819 and asserted it in the name of the king George III (the United Kingdom). It unloaded on the island of King-George on October 16th of the same year.

The archipelago was the theater of operations of hunting for the whale and the seal during the 19th century and the 20th century. Starting from second half of the 20th century, only of the scientific bases was established. Currently, the islands are the subject of a modest tourist activity during the southern summer.

The Chilean Argentinas claims, British and on the archipelago are cold since the signature of the Traité on the Antarctic. Each of the three countries includes it in the sector of which he asserts sovereignty.

See too

Related articles

• List of the islands of the Antarctic

External bonds

• L.L. Ivanov et al., the Livingston island and the island Greenwich (topographic chart)

Random links:

Jean Bernard Leon Foucault | Ain Témouchent | Kobilje (Malo Crniće) | Lake Alfeld | Spies on the Thames