NewsTracker Answers for week of Feb. 06, 2012

Q: Argentina has angrily criticized the assignment of Britain's Prince William, an air force pilot, to a six-week mission flying an air-sea rescue helicopter in the Falklands Islands 290 miles off the coast of South America. Where is Argentina on the map?

Circle the area on this map

Q: It has been nearly 30 years since Argentina and the United Kingdom fought a two-month war over the disputed . . .

A. Archipelago

B. Headland

C. Cape

D. Islet

A. Sometimes called an island group, an archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands. Argentina has maintained its claim of sovereignty over the Falklands since the British took control of the 778 islands in 1833. The archipelago now is an internally self-governing territory with the UK responsible for its defense and foreign affairs.

Q: Patriotic fervor has grown in Argentina as it nears the anniversary of its April 2, 1982, invasion of the islands. There have been protests outside the British embassy in Argentina's capital of . . .

A. San Jose

B. Buenos Aires

C. Santiago

D. Rio de Janero

B. With 2.9 million people, Buenos Aires also is the nation's largest city. The government announced in December that it would ban all ships sailing under the Falklands flag from docking at Buenos Aires or any other Argentine port. Argentina convinced Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay to join the ban.

Q: The Falklands' approximately 3,000 people are British citizens and have objected to any move to transfer sovereignty to Argentina. Besides national pride, why does Argentina want the islands?

A. Oil

B. Fishing

C. Both

C. "They are taking our oil and fishing resources," Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner told a summit meeting of regional states in December. The discovery of large oil reserves in the Falklands and disputes over squid fishing have added to tensions between Argentina and the UK.

Q: Argentina calls the Falkland Islands Las Malvinas and says they are part of its Tierra del Fuego province. Argentina has had conflicts with which nation over control of Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America?

A. Brazil

B. Britian

C. Chile

D. Uruguay

C. Argentina and Chile came close to war in 1978 over Argentine sovereignty claims over three islands in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago that they share. Because of the conflict, Chile gave logistical support and information to the British when they retook the Falklands from Argentina in 1982. The 1982 war killed 649 Argentine and 255 British military personnel. Three Falkland Islanders also died.