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What is the capital of a country with no permanent residents? Some sources say that the capital of South Georgia is Grytviken (or Grytviken Harbour). Source [1] says, "The South Georgia Government team is based in Stanley in the Falkland Islands .... On South Georgia the Government Officers at King Edward Point are the Government's representatives and have responsibility for local administration." It names three government officers. Two of them are supposed to be on the island at any one time. Judging from the map at source [2], Grytviken is a locality on a promontory called King Edward Point. I have tentatively decided to call Stanley the capital, since it sounds as if that's the permanent base.

Country overview: 

Short name	SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
ISO code	GS
FIPS code	SX
Language	English (en)
Time zone	-2
Capital	Stanley, Falkland Islands

 

These islands have belonged to the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century. From 1908 to 1962, they were dependencies of the Falkland Islands. On 1985-10-03, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands came under the direct administration of the United Kingdom. Argentina claims the islands along with the Falklands, and occupied South Georgia briefly in 1982.

Other names of country: 

1. French: Géorgie du Sud et les Îles fp Sandwich du Sud
2. German: Südgeorgien und Südliche Sandwichinseln
3. Italian: Isole della Georgia Australe e dalle Sandwich Australi
4. Russian: Южная Георгия и Южные Сандвичевы острова
5. Spanish: Islas Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur
6. Turkish: Güney Gürcistan ve Güney Sandoviç Adası

Origin of name: 

South Georgia was named in honor of King George III of England by Captain James Cook. South Sandwich Islands were named Sandwich Islands by Captain Cook in honor of his patron, John Montague, Lord Sandwich, then First Lord of the Admiralty.

Primary subdivisions: 

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands has no known administrative divisions.

Country	HASC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	GS.GS	0	4,090	1,580	Stanley
Country: This division is the whole of the country, treated as a division for compatibility. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision code. Population: Islands have no permanent residents.

Postal codes: 

According to address expert Graham Rhind , the postal code for South Georgia in the U.K. system is SIQQ 1ZZ.

Territorial extent: 

This territory consists of South Georgia Island and nearby small islands, and the South Sandwich Islands, of which the largest are Montagu, Saunders, Bristol, and Visokoi.

The UN LOCODE page  for South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Population history:

Date	Population
1931	709
1946	200
1953	1,400
1962	614
After 1966	0

Sources: 

1. [1] GSGSSI  website (Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, retrieved 2014-04-29).
2. [2] Map of South Georgia  on Wikipedia (retrieved 2014-04-29).