Falklands frontiers - Oil exploration at the ends of the earth

Lying just 480 km off the coast of Patagonia, the windswept British Overseas Territory (BOT) of the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands remains best known for being the subject of a brief but bloody war between Argentina and the UK in 1982. Yet the end of that conflict also marked a new chapter in the previously neglected islands' history. Security guarantees afforded by the construction of a substantial new military garrison allowed islanders to begin planning for a new future that would diversify their economy beyond its historical reliance on sheep farming and wool export.

In a series of development initiatives after 1982, the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) began to exploit more widely both the territory's natural resources and its geographical location as income generators. Fisheries licences were issued to cover a wide-ranging conservation zone set up in 1986, and the industry is now the mainstay of the islands' economy, leading the FIG to become economically independent from London in everything but defence.

Tourism was also promoted, capitalising on an increasing appetite for eco-friendly excursions and Antarctic cruises. Lesser but growing earners such as agriculture and services have also subsequently figured in the diversification plan. Yet it is in the field of offshore oil exploration that the Falklands potentially stands to enjoy an economic boom.