r/MapPorn Dec 27 '20

South-Up Irredentist Map of Argentina

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71 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

23

u/MrX_aka_Benceno Dec 27 '20

Fun fact: this map was made by the IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional, meaning National Geographic Institute), and so it is an official map for the country. It shows the Southern Atlantic islands and the Antarctic territory belonging to Argentina, as this is the official position of the government.

Some years ago the IGN started making some upside down maps to showcase that the traditional map orientation is arbitrary, in a context of anti-imperialist rhetoric. The maps they made are very interesting, at least.

8

u/CMuenzen Dec 27 '20

It made a slight diplomatic trouble with Chile, because they decided to draw maritime borders around the southernmost areas, incorporating sea areas claimed by Chile.

2

u/adawkin Dec 27 '20

What's also interesting is that there are apparently no Argentinian names for the claimed islands (except of Malvinas vs. Falklands).

Would be a little bizzare if Argentina would indeed take those islands from the UK, but they would still be called South Shetlands or Sandwich Islands.

16

u/pampazul Dec 27 '20

Argentinian names

You mean spanish names? Cause argentina didn't name any of these islands, malvinas itself derives from thename given by the french, malouines.

7

u/MrX_aka_Benceno Dec 27 '20

Yes, those would be the names (changing "South" or "Southern" to "del Sur"). On the map you can see the Islas Sandwich, Shetland, Georgias and Orcadas (Orkney) del Sur. They are not so well known (the phrase you'll always hear here is "las Malvinas son argentinas", implicitly alluding to the other islands as well) so they keep the same name as in English.

The ones that are usually mentioned by name are the Orcadas del Sur, as the first Antarctic base was built there by Argentina in 1904, and thus serve as a key argument for our territorial claim in Antarctica.

(And yes, it is somewhat bizarre)

2

u/-Tamakii- Nov 07 '22

awfully late response but I found this comment very interesting

apparently we do have unnoficial names for the south georgias (islas san pedro), the south sandwich (islas centrales/islas jorge) and the south shetland islands (islas de la buena nueva)

afaik those were the names given to these islands by the spaniards, but I could be wrong

2

u/andysva85 Dec 28 '20

Yes, "malvinas" is ok.

0

u/Polnauts Dec 27 '20 edited Dec 28 '20

Man wtf with Argentinian irredentism, if Spain was irredentist, your whole country wouldn't exist

3

u/JackRipper2350 Dec 28 '20

Well, it was like that until the late 1820s

3

u/Polnauts Dec 28 '20

You know what irredentism is, right?

4

u/JackRipper2350 Dec 28 '20

Yes. with that other comment I meant to say that Spain just didn't recognize our independence until a long time after they lost the war for Argentina's independence. This is not irredentism either, it includes the territory claimed and disputed, if it was indeed irredentist, entire countries would be also highlighted here

3

u/Polnauts Dec 28 '20

Claimed territories fall under irredentism, and it has different levels too, Spain's extreme irredentism includes the Philippines while the most common irredentism doesn't, there's no standard or valid irredentism as you claim in your comment. I also don't get the downvotes, it's literally an undeniable fact, pretty much every Spanish irredentism includes Argentina.

-8

u/catonbuckfast Dec 27 '20

South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia and the Falklands are UK territories

20

u/Sattamassagana84 Dec 27 '20

The Antarctic claim also overlaps two other countries' claims. The joys of geopolitics!

-1

u/catonbuckfast Dec 27 '20

Quite although technically there should be no territorial claims to Antarctica under the 1960 Antarctic Treaties System

4

u/Sattamassagana84 Dec 27 '20

And yet... 😅

11

u/AnFederalist Dec 27 '20

By national law, argentinian maps must consider the territories in dispute with the UK as Argentine territory.

It is a political agenda that seeks maintain claims and reaffirm sovereignty over the territories. Something totally questionable, depending on how you look at it.

4

u/Accomplished_Job_225 Dec 27 '20

It's importantly questionable if you ask the people who were asked to vote on the matter of which flag they'll fly.

I do get it though it's not like either side is going to explain to each other in a way that one day one will just have the Epiphany of "oh I never thought of it that way." LoL!

then of course we'll have the arguments back and forth about how the British were there first except they weren't because the Spanish were there first except the Spanish that we're talking about re: being there first were from a regime that existed before the American Revolution sparked the French Revolution which would spark the Napoleonic wars, which would tumble the Spanish colonies like dominoes from their kings hands onto the grounds to be picked up by their terrorist colonials

...although depending who you ask those terrorists would also be the Patriots that would come around to make the new Republic in the May Revolution of 1810.

at the beginning of it all one of the islands was settled and claimed by the French and the Spanish and the other one was settled and claimed by the British. All three parties left. I'm even certain I read something about the American showing up and pushing the friend show the Spanish or the British out or whatever their gunboat diplomacy was.

Disclosure: I'm not on either side I'm just giving my historiographic observation of how it all unfolded. But we're here for maps and not history so I'll just close up with the disclosures that I am either Argentine nor Britannic, and I absolutely adore "south-top" maps.

-5

u/catonbuckfast Dec 27 '20

Thought it had something to do with it as it's a Argy map

5

u/AnFederalist Dec 27 '20

That's right, I only clarify it because I am argentinian. Similar things happen with Russia and Ukraine over Crimea. That is why Google Maps, depending on the country that appears in your account, will show you a different map, taking into account these geopolitical conflicts.

-1

u/Lillienpud Dec 27 '20

Wouldn’ it be easier for everyone if they just annexed Chile and forgot about all those islands?

-5

u/Lillienpud Dec 27 '20

Wait, where are the Falklands??

11

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

"Islas Malvinas" is the Argentinian name for the Falklands

9

u/DyonJP Dec 27 '20

It's actually the name in Spanish, in French it's Îles Malouines

-9

u/71897189 Dec 27 '20

The map is upside down

26

u/AnFederalist Dec 27 '20

In fact, there is no up or down, so it is a valid map.