Why has the United Kingdom held onto the Falkland Islands?

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (UNCLOS), a nation has an "Exclusive economic zone" (EEZ) that extends 200 nautical miles (equal to 230 regular miles) from the shoreline. The EEZ grants a country sole exploitation rights over all natural resources. read more

Historically, the Falkland Islands have been held by numerous countries, including Argentina. But they never had a 'native' population. The United Kingdom is the only long-term custodian. read more

Due to the war the UK is locked into the defence of Falkland Islands. All Argentina would need to do to get control of them is convince the 2000–3000 people living there that life under Argentine rule would be good (For much of Argentina history it has been military dictatorships or unstable democracy). read more