11 Mar 2013

Falkland Islanders vote on British status

10:38 am on 11 March 2013

The people of the Falkland Islands are voting in a referendum on whether to remain a British overseas territory.

Argentina continues to insist that it has sovereignty over the islands - which it calls the Malvinas - but voters are widely expected to support retaining their current status.

Falkland Islanders will have their voices heard in the referendum, with 1672 people eligible to vote out of the islands' total population of about 2900.

The BBC reports Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982, entering the capital Port Stanley early in the morning.

In two months of fighting, 255 British and about 650 Argentine servicemen were killed, along with three Falklands civilians, before Argentine forces surrendered.