page_title: South Shetland Islands
section_title: Islands
hierarchical_section_title: South Shetland Islands / Islands
caption_attribution_description: English: Devils Point, Livingston Island in Antarctica from Lucifer Crags, with Hell Gates and Vardim Rocks in the middle ground, Long Rock in Morton Strait and Snow Island in the background, and Smith Island seen on the horizon on the right
context_page_description: The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of 3,687 square kilometres. They lie about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between 430 kilometres to 900 kilometres south-west from the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes.
  The islands have been claimed by the United Kingdom since 1908 and as part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962. They are also claimed by the governments of Chile and by Argentina.
  Several countries maintain research stations on the islands. Most of them are situated on King George Island, benefitting from the airfield of the Chilean base Eduardo Frei.
  There are sixteen research stations to date in different parts of the islands, with Chilean stations being the greatest in number.
context_section_description: From north to south the main and some minor islands of the South Shetlands are:
  Cornwallis Island (minor)
  Elephant Island (Mordvinova by Russia)
  Clarence Island (Shishkova by Russia)
  Rowett Island (minor)
  Gibbs Island (minor)
  Eadie Island (minor)
  King George Island (the largest, called May 25 island by Argentina, or Vaterloo by Russia)
  Bridgeman Island (minor)
  Penguin Island (minor - one of several Penguin Islands in the Antarctic region)
  Nelson Island (Leipzig by Russia)
  Robert Island (Polotsk by Russia)
  The Watchkeeper (minor)
  Table Island (minor)
  Aitcho Islands (minor)
  Greenwich Island (Berezina by Russia)
  Half Moon Island (minor)
  Desolation Island (minor)
  Livingston Island (second largest, Smolensk by Russia)
  Rugged Island (minor - one of several in the Antarctic region)
  Snow Island (one of several in the Antarctic region; Maly Yaroslavets by Russia)
  Smith Island (Borodino by Russia)
  Deception Island (Teylya by Russia)
  Low Island
  Seal Islands (minor)
  The Russian names above are historical, and no longer the official Russian names. (See the end of the article for a complete list of islands.)
caption: Devils Point, Livingston Island, with Morton Strait and Snow Island in the background, and Smith Island seen on the horizon on the right
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX200 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2016:02:25 20:45:24", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4036", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:02:25 20:45:24", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:02:25 20:45:24", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "149/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "113/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4000", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3000", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3252", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape"}