There's nowhere else like it in the world. In a farmer's field there are sheep, horses, cows and thousands of penguins. The birds huddle in groups, occasionally wandering under the barbed wire, through a minefield to the sea. Farming used to be the driving force in the economy (such that it was) but since the conflict in 1982 there've been tremendous economic changes.
During that time annual turnover has gone from 3 million to at least 40 million pounds per year. Some of it comes from UK investment but most from fishing licenses issued from the Falklands since 1987. It's reckoned the average income here is around 12 thousand pounds per year, there's little unemployment and the people even get a government handout to go on holiday. But Legislative Councillor Mike Summers says despite their relative prosperity islanders are always looking over their shoulder, 'Argentina still claims the Falklands and that over-rides everything we do in our daily life,' he explains, 'it's there, it's always there, it's a constant threat'
The Falklands government is responsible for, and pays for, everything here apart from security and foreign policy. That worries islanders who are keen to contribute to their own protection by exploiting other sources of income. There are plans to revive agriculture and export organic meat but more ambitious is the hunt for oil. Rigs operating in the seas off the islands brought some, but not much, to the surface in the late 1990s and now efforts are being made to encourage the oil companies to return.
A more immediate source of cash is from tourism. Visitors are just starting to cotton on to the island's beauty and wildlife. Neil Rowland's Hebe Tours offers spectacular scenery and four different types of penguin, 'People have been all over the world except the south Atlantic area, South America and the Falklands and Antarctic region is becoming the place to go'.
Although the Falklands conflict was almost 19 years ago - the perception of an Argentine threat is still a driving force here. This year islanders will be voting in their own general election, conscious that a strong economy gives them greater peace of mind. Although there's no mood here for independence, people do want the knowledge that if the UK government ever pulled the plug they'd be able to stand up for themselves.
LINKS
Visit the website at www.falklands.gov.fk
Read Richard Hollingham's diary of his expedition to the Antarctic
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