Falklands: census, maps and memories

International audienceThe Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory (BOT) and have on the United Nations list of Non Self-Governing Territories (NSGT) since 1946. Argentina claims sovereignty over the archipelago and a number of other islands in the South Atlantic. The dispute led to the 1982 war when British forces regained control of the islands on which Argentine troops had landed a few weeks before. The dispute revolves around two conflicting principles: self-determination and territorial integrity. "All people have the right to self-determination" according to UN General Assembly Resolution 1514. However, there is no consensus on the definition of a people. This paper will analyse the recent developments of the dispute in the light of Benedict Anderson's grammar of the imaginary. It identifies two parallel processes of imaginary creation at work in Argentina and the islands. This is likely to bolster an emerging proto-national feeling on the islands which could allow the inhabitants to claim peoplehood