66°00′S63°30′W / 66.000°S 63.500°W /-66.000; -63.500
Graham Land is the portion of theAntarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joiningCape Jeremy andCape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the BritishAntarctic Place-names Committee and the USAdvisory Committee on Antarctic Names, in which the name "Antarctic Peninsula" was approved for the major peninsula ofAntarctica, and the names Graham Land andPalmer Land for the northern and southern portions, respectively. The line dividing them is roughly 69 degrees south.
Graham Land is named after SirJames R. G. Graham,First Lord of the Admiralty at the time ofJohn Biscoe's exploration of the west side of Graham Land in 1832.[1][2] It is claimed by Argentina (as part ofArgentine Antarctica), Britain (as part of theBritish Antarctic Territory) and Chile (as part of theChilean Antarctic Territory).
Graham Land is the closest part of Antarctica to South America.[3] Thus it is the usual destination for small ships taking paying visitors on Antarctic trips fromSouth America.[4] (Larger ships are not allowed to disembark passengers.)
Until the discoveries of theBritish Graham Land Expedition of 1934–1937, it was generally supposed to be anarchipelago rather than a peninsula.[5] The mountains of Graham Land are the last range of theAmerican Cordillera, the almost continuous sequence ofmountain ranges forming the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and theAntarctic Peninsula.
Argentina calls the areaTierra deSan Martín (Land of San Martin)[6] and also calls the northern peninsula (Trinity Peninsula)Península Trinidad orTierra de la Trinidad. Similarly, Chile calls the entire Antarctic PeninsulaTierra deO'Higgins (Land of O'Higgins).[6]
The interior of Graham Land is occupied by a series of plateaus, namely (north to south)Laclavère Plateau,Louis Philippe Plateau,Detroit Plateau,Herbert Plateau,Foster Plateau,Forbidden Plateau,Bruce Plateau,Avery Plateau andHemimont Plateau.
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