Picton, Lennox and Nueva is a group of three uninhabited islands (and their islets) located on the extreme south of South America, in the Chilean Commune of Cabo de Hornos, Antártica Chilena Province of Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region, near Navarino Island and the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands.
Areas
- Lennox 170 km²
- Nueva 120 km²
- Picton 105 km²
History
Due to their strategic location south of the Beagle Channel and facing the Atlantic Ocean, the islands were also claimed by Argentina, causing a serious border conflict with neighboring Chile. Picton, Lennox and Nueva granted Chile possible claims on part of the Atlantic Ocean, several other islands including the Falkland islands and of a larger part of Antarctica. Also, gold and oil had supposedly been found. The two countries agreed to submit to arbitration by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. In May 1977, the queen ruled that the islands and all adjacent formations belonged to Chile. Argentina refused to accept the ruling, and relations between the two countries became extremely tense, moving to the brink of open warfare. In 1979 the two countries agreed — via the Act of Montevideo — to allow Pope John Paul II to mediate the dispute through the good offices of Cardinal Antonio Samoré, his special envoy. The pope's ruling resulted in the ratification of a treaty to settle the dispute in Rome in May 1985.
External links
- "Act of Montevideo," January 8, 1979 (United Nations) [PDF]
- "War Averted," January 22, 1979 (TIME)
