Pursuits
Oil Hopes Stoke Falklands Shift Away From Loyal Shrine to U.K.
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About 8,000 miles from London, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II stares from the wall of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. Yet there’s a growing question about how long the Union Jack will fly as oil exploration stirs up visions of wealth and independence among a shifting population.
The pervasive British presence in the Falkland Islands, an archipelago off the southern tip of Argentina, reflects a history of U.K. rule since 1833, bolstered by a surge in patriotism and a homestead movement after the failed 1982 Argentine invasion. About 90 percent of the 2,500 inhabitants claim birth in Britain or descent from Britons.