The South Shetland Islands (61° 00' to 63° 37'S, 53° 83' to 62° 83'W) were discovered by William Smith on 19 February 1819, but he didn't make a landing. He returned later that year, however, and landed on King George Island on 16 October 1819, claiming the islands for the British King George III. The usual act of sealing took place of course - when William Smith returned to the South Shetlands for a fifth time (1820-1821), his two vessels alone took over 60,000 fur seal skins. By the end of 1821, the fur seals were almost completely gone. Some of the first Antarctic tourism took place in the South Shetlands: the first Antarctic tourist flight flew over the islands and the Antarctic Peninsula in 1956.The South Shetland Islands consist of four main island groups: Clarence and Elephant islands; King George and Nelson islands; Robert, Greenwich, Livingston, Snow and Deception islands; and Smith and Low islands. The islands cover 3687 sq km and are about 80% glaciated. The highest point, Mt Foster, rises up to 2105m and is found on Smith Island.

The main islands will be described here from north to south.

Elephant Island

This island might be one of the most important in Antarctic history: this is where 22 members of Shackleton's "Endurance" expedition were stranded in 1915 after their ship was crushed in Weddell Sea pack ice - they spent 135 days on the island. Several chinstrap rookeries, as well as some very old moss colonies (more than 2000 years old) can also be found on the island. Unfortunately, landings on Elephant Island are extremely hard to do.

King George Island

This island is the largest of the South Shetlands, and is often called Antarctica's unofficial capital, due to the eight national winter stations built on it. King George Island covers 1295 sq km, with more than 90% of it being glaciated. The wildlife found on the island includes Antarctic terns, chinstraps, Adélies, blue-eyed shags and southern giant petrels. There are also year-round stations maintained by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Poland, Russia, South Korea, and Uruguay, as well as Ecuadorian, German, Peruvian and US summer bases.

The year-round bases are described here:

• Argentina's station, Teniente Jubay, was built in 1953 and can hold up to 80 people.
• Brazil's station, Commandante Ferraz, opened in 1984 and accommodates 33 people.
• Chile's station, Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, was built in 1969 and houses 80 people during the summer.
• China's station, Chang Cheng, was established in 1985 and can accommodate 50 people.
• Poland's station, Henryk Arctowski, opened in 1977 and accommodates about 40 people.
• Russia's station, Bellingshausen, was established in 1968 and can hold up to 50 people.
• South Korea's station, King Sejong, was set up in 1987-1988 and accommodates 80 people.
• Uruguay's station, Artigas, was established in 1938, and houses 14 people in winter and 32 in summer.

The summer bases:

• Ecuador's station, Point Hennequin, was set up in 1987-1988. Germany's station, Dallman Laboratory, opened in 1994. It also belongs to Argentina and the Netherlands, and is used as a research facility.
• Peru's station, Picchu, was established in 1989 and can accommodate 28 people.
• US's station, Peter J Lenie field, opened in 1985 (it is sometimes also called 'Copacabana').

Penguin Island

There are many Penguin Islands scattered all over Antarctica, but this one was named by Bransfield in 1820, and it's highest point, Deacon Peak (170m), is an extinct volcano. It is also very easy to climb -- so many people do, that a path is worn into the ground each season. Both chinstrap and Adélie penguins can be found on the island.

Bridgeman Island

Bransfield discovered this island on 22 January 1820, and he named it after Captain Charles O Bridgeman of the British Royal Navy. Bridgeman Island is an active volcano rising up to 240m, and is located 37km east of King George Island.

Aitcho Islands

These islands are named for the British Admiralty's Hydrographic Office ('HO'), and are covered with extensive beds of moss and lichens. Mainly gentoo and chinstrap penguins nest on the Aitcho Islands.

Greenwich Island

During the 1800s, sealers stalked the beaches on the island just as they did with almost all the South Shetlands. On the southwest side of Greenwich Island, there is a harbour called Yankee Harbour. As early as 1820, the harbour was an important anchorage to sealers (who called it Hospital Cove). Yankee Harbour is a common yacht anchorage today, because of a stone and gravel spit extending about 1 km in a wide curve, protecting the harbour.

Half Moon Island

This island is crescent-shaped, and is only 2 km long. Half Moon Island where the Argentine Navy operates the summer base Teniente Camara. 21 tourists were stranded here in 1961 when their landing craft from their vessel (the "Lapataia") was damaged.

Livingston Island

The whole Byers Peninsula on the island's western end is protected as Site of Special Scientific Interest No 6 under the Antarctic Treaty, because it contains the greatest concentration of 19th-century historical sites in Antarctica. In the early-19th-century, Livingston Island was a major sealing centre - English sealers took more than 95,000 fur seal skins on the western part of the island alone. Hannah Point, named after the British sealer "Hannah" (from Liverpool), which was wrecked in the South Shetlands on Christmas Day of 1820. It is one of the most popular stops in Antarctica, mainly because of its large chinstrap and gentoo rookeries (which sometimes have macaroni penguins nesting among them). East of Hannah Point lies the Spanish station, Juan Carlos Primero, a summer-only base. It was built in 1987-1988, and can accommodate 15 people. Just about 2 km northeast of Juan Carlos Primero lies the Bulgarian summer base, St Kliment Ohridskiy, which was built in 1988 and also accommodates 15 people.

Deception Island

Deception Island is easily recognised on any map, because of its broken-ring shape, and its collapsed volcanic cone provides one of the safest natural harbours in the world. Early sealers used the island's 12km wide harbour as a base for operations. Whaling took place as well as sealing, and by the peak season of 1914-1915, thirteen whaling factories had already been established. Back then, whalers used to call Whalers Bay "New Sandefjord" after the Norwegian whaling town. A whalers' cemetery once held the graves of 45 men (38 Norwegians, 3 Swedes, one Briton, one Chilean, one Russian and one of unknown origin), but the cemetery is now buried under many meters of sludge from a mudslide in 1969 when a volcanic eruption melted the glacier above. Deception Island was formed by a volcano - it is not extinct today, only dormant. The most recent eruptions took place in 1991-1992. There is a positive side to all this volcanic activity, however: you can go 'bathing' in the thermally heated waters, making it a tourist attraction. Today, there are only two regularly open stations (only in the summer though): Spain's station, Gabriel de Castilla, which accommodates 12 people, and Argentina's station, Decepción. The most common penguins on Deception Island are chinstraps - there are several rookeries with more than 50,000 pairs in each rookery.