Picton, Lennox and Nueva

Picton, Lennox and Nueva Islands at the east side of the Beagle Channel

Picton, Lennox and Nueva is a group of three islands (and their islets) on the extreme south of South America, in the Chilean commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. They lie east of Navarino Island and are separated from the Argentine part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego in the north by the Beagle Channel.

Geography

Area^{[citation needed]}:

• Lennox: 170 km²
• Nueva: 120 km²
• Picton: 105 km²

History

Main article: Beagle conflict

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 the United Kingdom'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.

See also

• Beagle Channel cartography since 1881
• Allen Francis Gardiner

External links

• "Act of Montevideo," January 8, 1979 (United Nations) [PDF]
• "War Averted," January 22, 1979 (TIME)