Arms of the British Antarctic Territory

King George Island

(South Shetland Islands)

British Antarctic Territory

Location: 62° 0' 19" S 58° 17' 12" W
NE of Nelson Island and SW of Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands, extending from 57°35' to 59°02'W, was discovered and roughly charted on its N coast by William Smith, 16 October 1819, providing the site of the first landing in Antarctica (Esther Harbour, q.v.) and being included under the name New South Britain (South Shetland Islands, q.v.); further charted on its S coast by the Russian Antarctic Expedition in February 1821; following the discovery and naming by Bransfield of King George Bay (q.v.), named King George(')s Island after King George IV. The SW coast of the island was recharted by Discovery Investigations, 1934-35, and the coastline anti-clockwise from Admiralty Bay towards Jagged Island on the N coast by Discovery Investigations in January 1937. An alternative Russian name, chosen by Bellinghausen, was 'Waterloo Island'. The island was photographed from the air by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1956-57, and surveyed from the ground by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1956-57, and by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, 1957-59.