The only inhabited centre of the island is Grytviken (20 inhabitants), located in the best port, it's a former village centre for fishing, gathering and processing whales, today hosts a scientific station, a museum on cetaceans and a small church, south of the village is the tomb of English explorer Ernest Shackleton, in the island are also numerous colonies of seals.

The Southern Sandwich Islands are uninhabited archipelago (311 sq km) of the southwest Atlantic Ocean, located 640 km south-east of South Georgia, between 56°-59°S, 26°-28°W. The archipelago consists of 11 islands of volcanic origin, with numerous active volcanoes, which are divided into three groups. The group of Traversay islands: Zavodovski (25 sq km), Leskov (0.3 sq km), Visokoi ( 35 sq km), Candlemas (14 sq. km) and Vindication (5 sq km) islands; the Central islands: Saunders (40 sq km), Montagu (110 sq. km) and Bristol (46 square kilometres) islands; and the Southern Thule islands: Bellingshausen (1 sq km), Cook (20 sq. km) and Thule (14 sq km) islands. On Montagu is the highest peak in Southern Sandwich, Mount Belinda (1,370 metres). The islands are uninhabited, and mostly covered by ice.

The islands are claimed by Argentina.