South Orkney Islands

a group of islands in the British Antarctic Territory, N of the Antarctic Peninsula: formerly a dependency of the Falkland Islands; claimed by Argentina.

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Island group, southern Atlantic Ocean.

Located southeast of South America, the South Orkneys are composed of two large islands (Coronation and Laurie) and many smaller islands; they form part of the British Antarctic Territory. Barren and uninhabited, the islands have a total area of 240 sq mi (620 sq km). They were part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies until 1962. Signy Island is used as a base for Antarctic exploration.

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▪ islands, South Atlantic Ocean

      island group lying between the Scotia Sea to the north and the Weddell Sea to the south in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of two large islands (Coronation and Laurie) and a number of smaller islands and rocky islets and forms part of the British Antarctic Territory. The islands (total area about 240 square miles [620 square km]) are barren and uninhabited, but Signy Island is used as a base for Antarctic exploration. George Powell (British) and Nathaniel Palmer (Palmer, Nathaniel) (American), both sealers, sighted and charted the islands in December 1821.

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