The highest point in the Falkland Islands is Mount Usborne (705 m) on East Falkland Island.

English and Dutch navigators sighted the Falkland Islands in 1592 and 1600 respectively.

John Strong, the English Captain, visited the Falkland Islands in 1690.

In the 1760s the French and the British started settlements in the Falkland Islands.

Colonies were also set up by Spain and Argentina.

Possession of the Falkland Islands was disputed between Britain and Spain. Later, Argentina made a claim on the islands.

A British naval base was established in the Falkland Islands in 1833.

In 1833 Charles Darwin, the author of Origin of Species, visited the Falkland Islands as a member of the HMS Beagle expedition.

The town of Stanley was founded in 1843.

Commercial sheep farming began in the Falkland Islands in the middle of the nineteenth century.

During the early part of the First World War the British defeated German warships at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

In the Second World War a British Royal Navy force, based in the Falklands, won the Battle of the River Plate, gaining control of the South Atlantic.

The Falkland Islands is an Overseas Territory of the UK. The islands are also claimed by Argentina.

The chief of state of the Falklands is the British monarch; a Governor heads the Falklands' government.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, an Overseas Territory of the UK, is administered from the Falkland Islands.

Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982.

United Kingdom armed forces re-took the Falklands in June 1982.

Following the war in the Falklands, the UK established a garrison on the Falkland Islands to defend the islands and provide any military aid to the government.

There are oil reserves in the seabed surrounding the Falkland Islands; the Falkland Islands Government began to auction oil production licences in 1996.

Clearance of mine fields left over from the Falklands War began in 2009.

Seismic surveys suggest that there are substantial oil reserves in the seabed surrounding the Falkland Islands.

On 20 July 2023 it was announced that the European Union referred to the Falkland Islands using the Argentine name of Islas Malvinas (Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands); the UK is no longer part of the EU so was not involved in the proceedings.