Around 3,400 people live in the Falkland Islands, roughly two-thirds of them in Stanley. The rest are scattered across the camp — the local term for everywhere outside the capital — in farming settlements and on the outer islands.
About 70 percent of Falkland Islanders are of British descent, primarily from Scottish and Welsh settlers who arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is also a community of Saint Helenians who came to work on the islands, as well as people from Chile and elsewhere in South America. In the 2021 census, 35 percent of the population declared their nationality solely as Falkland Islander, reflecting a strong sense of local identity distinct from any other.
The old nickname "Kelpers" — a reference to the kelp forests surrounding the islands — is less commonly used than it once was, and some islanders consider it mildly derogatory when used by outsiders.
The community is tight-knit and self-sufficient by necessity. Sheep farming was the economic backbone for most of the islands' history, and the wool industry still operates, though the economy now relies heavily on fishing licence fees and, increasingly, tourism. The 1982 war with Argentina shaped modern Falklands identity profoundly — most islanders know exactly where they stand politically, and the 2013 sovereignty referendum, in which 99.8 percent voted to remain British, underlined the point.
People are generally friendly and accustomed to visitors. If you find yourself talking to locals in a pub or farm kitchen, you'll likely get an honest and direct account of what island life is actually like.