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The World’s Smallest Capital Is Impossibly Tiny
And you think you live in a small town
South Georgia Island is an inhospitable waste encompassing 1,362 sq mi of frozen peaks, towering cliffs, and frigid black seas. The island was claimed for England in 1775 by Captain James Cook, who stopped and surveyed the hunk of rock on his expedition around the world. Today, it is home to the world’s smallest capital.
South Georgia Island is one of the most remote and hostile places in the world, but it has been a stalwart part of British history for centuries. It was a base for fishermen and whalers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was the location of Earnest Shackleton’s brave departure into the unknown and the location of his ill-fated return months after. South Georgia was one of the noted causes of the Falkland War between the United Kingdom and Argentina. The island and its surrounding territories briefly exchanged hands during the confrontation.
Despite all of that, today, the island is hardly inhabited. Whaling is an industry of a bygone era. The age of explorers setting out on private expeditions to the South Pole is over. Now, the island is home to an Antarctic research station that also pulls double duty as the territorial overseas capital of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
