Malvinas Islands/Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas or whatever you want to call them.

They are located off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic Ocean.  Malvinas Islands

Some of us remember way back in the early 1980′s, the scuffle that was the Falklands War.  I was only a kid then, and I vaguely remember watching some war ships fire their rounds on TV during the news updates.

Basically, the story is that Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, which are controlled under the United Kingdom.  The British PM at the time, Margaret ‘The Iron Lady’ Thatcher, did not like that and decided to take them back.  After a short-ish fight (a whole 74 days), the English win the conflict.  Malvinas Islands

You can read more about the history of this conflict at the Falklands War page at Wikipedia, or in this book for more detail.

Even today, maps produced in Argentina show the Falkland Islands (U.K.) as the Islas Malvinas (Arg).

Argentina lost a few hundred men during the conflict – and there is a big memorial in Buenos Aires that commemorates the fallen there.

The Falkland Islands Memorial

I’ve included a picture of the memorial below. Malvinas Islands

What makes this memorial ironic is that the Argentine Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas memorial to those who died is literally situated across the road from an English Clock Tower – a gift from the English to Argentina in the 1800s. Malvinas Islands

I took this photo, standing in front of the memorial and this sight was located directly ahead: Malvinas Islands

I wanted to point out this irony to the two armed guards who were stiffly standing next to the memorial, but realised from my Kosovo experience they had big guns I didn’t possess.  Malvinas Islands

More Falkland Islands Stuff

Check out more at The Battle for the Falklands and Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 by Land, Sea and Air.

Other things to do in Argentina – throw bricks at a bank, check out Beaver Dams in Tierra Del Fuego, and devour the Best Steak everytime.