Seven sovereign states –Argentina,Australia,Chile,France,New Zealand,Norway, and theUnited Kingdom – have made eightterritorial claims inAntarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and study facilities within their respective claimed territories; however, a number of such facilities are located outside of the area claimed by their respective countries of operation, and countries without claims such asBelgium,China,India,Italy,Japan,Poland,Russia,South Africa (SANAE),Spain,Ukraine, and theUnited States have constructed research facilities within the areas claimed by other countries. There are overlaps among the territories claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom.
Spanish Empire 1539–1555
- Terra Australis 1539–1555
France 1840–present
Adélie Land 1840–present
United Kingdom 1908–present
Falkland Islands Dependencies 1908–1962
British Antarctic Territory 1962–present
New Zealand 1923–present
Norway 1931–present
Australia 1933–present
Nazi Germany 1939–1945
New Swabia 1939–1945
Chile 1940–present
Chilean Antarctic Territory 1940–present
Argentina 1941–present[note 2]
Argentine Antarctica 1946–present
%2c_Spain.svg)
According to Argentina and Chile, the Spanish Crown had claims on Antarctica. Thecapitulación (governorship) granted to the conquistadorPedro Sánchez de la Hoz in 1539 by theKing of Spain,Charles V, explicitly included all lands south of theStraits of Magellan (Terra Australis,Tierra del Fuego and by extension, potentially the entire continent of Antarctica) and to the East and West the borders were the ones specified in theTreaty of Tordesillas andZaragoza respectively, thus creating theGovernorate of Terra Australis.[5][6][7]
De la Hoz transferred the title to the conquerorPedro de Valdivia in 1540.[8] In 1555, the claim was incorporated toChile.[9]
This grant established, according toArgentina andChile, that ananimus occupandi existed on the part of Spain in Antarctica. Spain's sovereignty claim over parts of Antarctica was, according to Chile and Argentina, internationally recognized with theInter caetera bull of 1493 and theTreaty of Tordesillas of 1494. Argentina and Chile treat these treaties as legal international treaties mediated by the Catholic Church that was at that time a recognized arbiter in such matters.[10] Each country currently has claimed a sector of the Antarctic continent that is more or less directly south of its national Antarctic-facing lands.
Modern Spain has not claimed any Antarctic territory. It operates two summer research stations (Gabriel de Castilla Base andJuan Carlos I Base) in theSouth Shetland Islands.
The United Kingdom reasserted sovereignty over theFalkland Islands in the farSouth Atlantic in 1833 and maintained a continuous presence there. In 1908, the British government extended its territorial claim by declaring sovereignty over "South Georgia, theSouth Orkneys, theSouth Shetlands, and the(South) Sandwich Islands, andGraham's Land, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean and on the Antarctic continent to the south of the50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the20th and the80th degrees of west longitude".[11] All these territories were administered asFalkland Islands Dependencies fromStanley by theGovernor of the Falkland Islands. The claimed motivation for this declaration was what the British said was the need to regulate and tax thewhaling industry effectively.[citation needed]
In 1917, the wording of the claim was modified, so as unambiguously to include all the territory in the sector stretching to theSouth Pole (thus encompassing all the present British Antarctic Territory). The new claim covered "all islands and territories whatsoever between the 20th degree of west longitude and the50th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 50th parallel of south latitude; and all islands and territories whatsoever between the 50th degree of west longitude and the 80th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the58th parallel of south latitude".[11]
It was the ambition ofLeopold Amery, thenUnder-Secretary of State for the Colonies, that the United Kingdom incorporate the entire continent into theEmpire. In a memorandum to the governors-general for Australia and New Zealand, he wrote that 'with the exception of Chile and Argentina and some barren islands belonging to France... it is desirable that the whole of the Antarctic should ultimately be included in the British Empire.' The first step was taken on 30 July 1923, when the British government passed anOrder in Council under theBritish Settlements Act 1887, defining the new borders for theRoss Dependency – "that part of His Majesty's Dominions in the Antarctic Seas, which comprises all the islands and territories between the 160th degree of East Longitude and the 150th degree of West Longitude which are situated south of the 60th degree of South Latitude shall be named the Ross Dependency." The Order in Council then went on to appoint the Governor-General andCommander-in Chief of New Zealand as the Governor of the territory.[12]
In 1930, the United Kingdom claimedEnderby Land. In 1933, a British imperial order transferred territory south of60° S and betweenmeridians160° E and45° E to Australia as theAustralian Antarctic Territory.[13][14] This followed theBritish Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, led by Australian geologist and polar explorerDouglas Mawson, establishing the territorial claim to 42% of the Antarctic during 1929–1930 and 1930–1931.[15][16]
Following the passing of theStatute of Westminster in 1931, the government of the United Kingdom relinquished all control over the governments of New Zealand and Australia. This, however, had no bearing on the obligations of the governors-general of both countries in their capacity as Governors of the Antarctic territories.
The basis for the claim toAdélie Land by France depended on the discovery of the coastline in 1840 by the French explorerJules Dumont d'Urville, who named it after his wife, Adèle.[17] He erected the French flag and took possession of the land for France on 21 January 1840 at 17:30.[18]
The British eventually decided to recognize this claim, and the border betweenAdélie Land and theAustralian Antarctic Territory was fixed definitively in 1938.[19]
These developments also concerned Norwegian whaling interests which wished to avoid British taxation ofwhaling stations in the Antarctic and felt concern that they would be commercially excluded from the continent. The whale-ship ownerLars Christensen financed several expeditions to the Antarctic with the view to claiming land for Norway and to establishing stations on Norwegian territory to gain better privileges.[20] The first expedition, led byNils Larsen andOla Olstad, landed onPeter I Island in 1929 and claimed the island for Norway. On 6 March 1931 a Norwegian royal proclamation declared the island under Norwegiansovereignty[20] and on 23 March 1933 the island was declared a dependency.[21][note 3]
The 1929 expedition led byHjalmar Riiser-Larsen andFinn Lützow-Holm named the continental landmass near the island asQueen Maud Land after the Norwegian queenMaud of Wales.[22] The territory was explored further during theNorvegia expedition of 1930–31.[23] Negotiations with the British government in 1938 resulted in setting the western border of Queen Maud Land at 20°W.[23]
The United States, Chile, the Soviet Union and Germany disputed Norway's claim.[24][25] In 1938,Germany dispatched theGerman Antarctic Expedition, led byAlfred Ritscher, to fly over as much of it as possible.[23] The shipSchwabenland reached the pack ice off Antarctica on 19 January 1939.[26] During the expedition, Ritscher photographed an area of about 350,000 square kilometres (140,000 sq mi) from the air[27] and dropped darts inscribed withswastikas every 26 kilometres (16 mi). However, despite intensively surveying the land, Germany never made any formal claim or constructed any lasting bases.[28] Hence, the German Antarctic claim, known asNew Swabia, was disputed at the time, and is currently not taken into account.
On 14 January 1939, five days before the German arrival, Norway annexed Queen Maud Land[22] after a royal decree announced that the land bordering theFalkland Islands Dependencies in the west and theAustralian Antarctic Dependency in the east was to be brought under Norwegian sovereignty.[23] The primary aim of the annexation was to secure the Norwegian whaling industry's access to the region.[22][29] In 1948, Norway and the United Kingdom agreed to limit Norway's longitudinal claims of Queen Maud Land to 20°W to 45°E, and to incorporate the Bruce Coast andCoats Land into Norwegian territory.[23]
Argentina and Chile have a long history in Antarctica.[30][31] In 1893, when Argentina started issuing whaling, hunting and fishing licenses in Antarctic waters, the Chilean government protested and issued fishing ordinances of its own, with the goal of preventing the indiscriminate exploitation of maritime resources and their potential extinction. The Chilean Navy was tasked with stopping clandestine fishing vessels, but their presence proved ineffective.[31] In early 1906, the Chilean government granted permits to private business ventures to settle the lands beyond the South Shetland islands, with the goal of establishing a permanent presence in the region and improving Chile's control of the area.[31] Argentina protested immediately.[31]
Two years before, in 1904, the Argentine government had established a permanent presence in Antarctica with the purchase of a meteorological station onLaurie Island established in 1903 byWilliam S. Bruce'sScottish National Antarctic Expedition. Bruce offered to transfer the station and instruments for the sum of 5,000pesos, on the condition that the government committed itself to the continuation of the scientific mission.[32] The Envoy at the British Legation in Argentina, William Haggard,[33] also sent a note to the Argentine Foreign Minister,José A. Terry, ratifying the terms of Bruce's proposition.[32] In 1906, Argentina communicated to the international community the establishment of a permanent base in theSouth Orkney Islands, theOrcadas Base. However, Haggard responded by reminding Argentina that theSouth Orkneys were British. The British position was that Argentine personnel had been granted permission for a period of one year. The Argentine government would later enter into negotiations with the British over the possible transfer of the island. Although these talks were unsuccessful, Argentina attempted to unilaterally establish its sovereignty with the erection of markers, national flags and other symbols.[34]
Chile's government didn't completely reject Argentina's protest and negotiations ensued between both countries through most of 1906 and 1907, trying to define the borders of their respective Antarctic claims.[31] Chilean diplomats proposed dividing the area in two by tracing a straight line from the South Shetlands towards the South Pole, but the idea was rejected by their Argentine counterparts. Both countries eventually decided to define the borders of their respective claims on their own.
Chile officially established theChilean Antarctic Territory in November 1940, claiming being the historical inheritor of theSpanish Governorate of Terra Australis of 1539, transferred to theGovernorate of Chile in 1555.[31]
Argentina established the National Antarctic Commission in August 1940[35]and formalized its claim between 74° W and 25° W in 1946,[36] after claiming between 75° W and 25° W in 1941 and between 68°24′ W and 25° in 1942.
In 1943, theBritish Admiralty andColonial Office launchedOperation Tabarin with the goal of asserting British territorial claims and establishing a permanent presence in the region.[37] The move was also motivated by concerns within theForeign Office about the direction of United States post-war activity in the region. A suitable cover story was the need to deny use of the area to theKriegsmarine, which was known to use remote islands as rendezvous points and as shelters for commerce raiders,U-boats and supply ships. Also, in 1941, there existed a fear that Japan might attempt to seize theFalkland Islands, either as a base or to hand them over to Argentina, thus gaining political advantage for theAxis and denying their use to the United Kingdom.
In 1943, British personnel fromHMSCarnarvon Castle[38] removed Argentine flags fromDeception Island. The expedition was led by LieutenantJames Marr and left theFalkland Islands in two ships,HMSWilliam Scoresby (a minesweeping trawler) andFitzroy, on 29 January 1944.
Bases were established during February near the abandoned Norwegian whaling station onDeception Island, where theUnion Flag was hoisted in place of Argentine flags, and atPort Lockroy (on 11 February) on the coast ofGraham Land. A further base was founded atHope Bay on 13 February 1945, after a failed attempt to unload stores on 7 February 1944. Symbols of British sovereignty, includingpost offices, signposts andplaques were also constructed andpostage stamps were issued.
Operation Tabarin provoked Chile to organise itsFirst Chilean Antarctic Expedition in 1947–48, where the Chilean presidentGabriel González Videla personally inaugurated one of its bases.[39]
Following the end of the war in 1945, the British bases were handed over to civilian members of the newly createdFalkland Islands Dependencies Survey (subsequently theBritish Antarctic Survey), the first such national scientific body to be established in Antarctica.
Friction between the United Kingdom and Argentina continued into the postwar period.Royal Navy warships were dispatched in 1948 to prevent naval incursions. The only instance of shots fired in anger on Antarctica occurred in 1952 atHope Bay, when staff at British Base "D" (established 1945) came up against the Argentine team atEsperanza Base (est. 1952), who fired a machine gun over the heads of aBritish Antarctic Survey team unloading supplies from theJohn Biscoe. The Argentines later extended adiplomatic apology, saying that there had been a misunderstanding and that the Argentine military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority.
The United States became politically interested in the Antarctic continent before and during WWII. TheUnited States Antarctic Service Expedition, from 1939 to 1941, was sponsored by the government with additional support from donations and gifts by private citizens, corporations and institutions. The objective of the Expedition, outlined by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, was to establish two bases: East Base, in the vicinity ofCharcot Island, and West Base, in the vicinity ofKing Edward VII Land. After operating successfully for two years but with international tensions on the rise, it was considered wise to evacuate the two bases.[40] However, immediately after the war, American interest was rekindled with an explicitly geopolitical motive.Operation Highjump, from 1946 to 1947 was organised byRear AdmiralRichard E. Byrd Jr. and included 4,700 men, 13 ships, and multiple aircraft. The primary mission of Operation Highjump was to establish theAntarctic research baseLittle America IV,[41] for the purpose of training personnel and testing equipment in frigid conditions and amplifying existing stores of knowledge ofhydrographic, geographic,geological,meteorological andelectromagnetic propagation conditions in the area. The mission was also aimed at consolidating and extending United States sovereignty over the largest practicable area of theAntarctic continent, although this was publicly denied as a goal even before the expedition ended.
Meanwhile, in an attempt at ending the impasse, the United Kingdom submitted an application to theInternational Court of Justice in 1955 to adjudicate between the territorial claims of the United Kingdom, Argentina, and Chile. This proposal failed, as both Latin American countries rejected submitting to an international arbitration procedure.[42]
Negotiations towards the establishment of an international condominium over the continent first began in 1948, involving the 8 claimant countries: United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, US, France, Norway, Chile and Argentina. This attempt was aimed at excluding the Soviet Union from the affairs of the continent and rapidly fell apart when the USSR declared an interest in the region, refused to recognize any claims of sovereignty and reserved the right to make its own claims in 1950.[42]
An important impetus toward the formation of theAntarctic Treaty System in 1959 was theInternational Geophysical Year (IGY), 1957–1958. This year of international scientific cooperation triggered an 18-month period of intense Antarctic science. More than 70 existing national scientific organisations then formed IGY committees, and participated in the cooperative effort. The British establishedHalley Research Station in 1956 by an expedition from theRoyal Society. SirVivian Fuchs headed theCommonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica in 1958. In Japan, theJapan Maritime Safety Agency offeredice breakerSōya as the South Pole observation ship andShowa Station was built as the first Japanese observation base on Antarctica.
France contributed withDumont d'Urville Station andCharcot Station inAdélie Land. The shipCommandant Charcot of theFrench Navy spent nine months of 1949/50 at the coast of Adélie Land, performingionospheric soundings.[43] The US erected theAmundsen–Scott South Pole Station as the first permanent structure directly over the South Pole in January 1957.[44]
Finally, to prevent the possibility of military conflict in the region, the United States, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and 9 other countries with significant interests negotiated and signed theAntarctic Treaty in 1959. The treaty entered into force in 1961 and sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation, and bannedmilitary activity on that continent. The treaty was the firstarms control agreement established during theCold War.[45]
Sevensovereign states had made eightterritorial claims to land in Antarctica south of the60° S parallel before 1961. None of these claims have an indigenous population.
All claim areas are sectors with the exception ofPeter I Island. TheSouth Orkney Islands fall within the territory claimed by Argentina and the United Kingdom, and theSouth Shetland Islands fall within the areas claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom.
These claims have been recognized only between (some of) the seven claiming states. The United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand and Norway all recognize each other's claims[46] (none of their claims overlap with each other).
Prior to 1962, the British South Atlantic and Antarctic dependencies were administered from theFalkland Islands. They includedSouth Georgia and theSouth Sandwich Islands. The Antarctic areas collectively became a separateBritish Overseas Territory following the ratification of the Antarctic Treaty. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands remained as dependencies until 1985 when they too became a separate overseas territory.
| Flag | Territory | Claimant | Date | Claim limits/Coordinates | Area (km2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adélie Land (District of theFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands) | France | 1840 |  | 136°E–142°E | 351,000 |
| Argentine Antarctica (Department ofTierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands Province) | Argentina | 1946[36] |  | 25°W–74°W | 1,461,597 |
| Australian Antarctic Territory (External Territory of Australia) | Australia | 1933 |  | 160°E–142°E 136°E–44°38′E | 5,896,500 |
| British Antarctic Territory (British Overseas Territory) | United Kingdom | 1908 |  | 20°W–80°W | 1,709,400 |
| Chilean Antarctic Territory (Commune of Antártica, inAntártica Chilena Province) | Chile | 1940 |  | 53°W–90°W | 1,250,257.6 |
| Peter I Island (Dependency of Norway) | Norway | 1931 | .svg) | 68°51′S90°35′W / 68.850°S 90.583°W /-68.850; -90.583 | 154 |
| Queen Maud Land (Dependency of Norway) | 1939 | .svg) | 44°38′E–20°W | 2,700,000 | ||
| Ross Dependency (Dependency of New Zealand) | New Zealand | 1923 |  | 150°W–160°E | 450,000 |
| Total | 13,899,908.6 | |||||
Overlapping claims[edit]
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Four island territories on theAntarctic Plate located north of the 60° Southcircle of latitude are associated with the continent of Antarctica. They are not subject to the Antarctic Treaty System. None of these territories has an indigenous population.
Bouvet Island (Dependency ofNorway)
French Southern Territories[note 4] (Overseas territory ofFrance)Heard Island and McDonald Islands (External territory ofAustralia)
Prince Edward Islands (Overseas possession ofSouth Africa)Another island territory, partly located on theSouth Sandwich Plate and partly on theScotia Plate,[note 5] is sometimes associated with the continent of Antarctica (since both of those are minor tectonic plates that border the major Antarctic Plate).
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (British Overseas Territory) under sovereignty claim dispute with Argentina.The United States and Russia (as asuccessor state of the Soviet Union) maintain they have reserved the right to make claims.[citation needed] There has also been speculation on Brazil makinga claim bounded by53° W and28° W,[47] thus overlapping with the Argentine and British claims but not with the Chilean claim. Peru made a reservation of its territory rights under theprinciple of Antarctic defrontation [es] and due to influence on its climate, ecology and marine biology, adducing, in addition, geological continuity and historical links.[48]
Uruguayan adhesion to the Antarctic Treaty System includes a declaration that it reserves its rights in Antarctica in accordance with international law.[49]
In 1967, Ecuador declared its right over an area bounded by84°30' W and95°30' W, thus overlapping with the Chilean claim and Norway's claim ofPeter I Island. The claim was ratified in 1987, and included in Article 4 of the2008 Constitution of Ecuador.[50]
In March 2013,Mohammad Bagheri,General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said thatIran can claim sovereignty over part of the South Pole under international law according to latitude. Due to the possibility of access to the South Pole through the Makran Sea and the lack of any land between Iran's eastern coast and Antarctica, the Iranian sector with an approximate length of 3,000 km and width of 405 km and an approximate area of 200 to 250 thousand square kilometers would conflict with Australia's claims and would includeMawson Station.[51]
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements regulateinternational relations with respect to Antarctica,Earth's onlycontinent without a native human population. The treaty has now been signed by 58 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and the now-defunctSoviet Union. The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and bannedmilitary activity on that continent. This was the firstarms control agreement established during theCold War.
The Antarctic Treaty states that contracting to the treaty:
What the treaty does affect isnew claims:
The Soviet Union and the United States both filed reservations against the restriction on new claims,[52] and the United States andRussia assert their right to make claims in the future if they so choose.Brazil maintains theComandante Ferraz (the Brazilian Antarctic Base) and has proposed a theory to delimit territories using meridians, which would give it and other countries a claim.
In general, territorial claims below the60° S parallel have only been recognised among those countries making claims in the area. However, although claims are often indicated on maps of Antarctica, this does not signifyde jure recognition. All claim areas exceptPeter I Island aresectors, the borders of which are defined by degrees oflongitude. In terms oflatitude, the northern border of all sectors is the 60° S parallel (which does not cut through any piece of land, continent or island) and is also the northern limit of the Antarctic Treaty. The southern borders of all sectors are one single point, theSouth Pole. Previously, the Norwegian sector was an exception: the original claim of 1930 did not specify a northern or a southern limit, so that its territory was only defined by eastern and western limits.[note 6] However, in 2015, Norway formally declared that its claim extended south to the pole.[53]
After the discovery of the Strait of Magellan (1520), geographers and cartographers were more convinced than ever of the ancient theory of Claudio Tolomeo, who maintained that a continent did exist around the South Pole. They published maps and charts based on the hypothesis that Tierra del Fuego was the beginning of that Terra Australis. The first person ever to have rights over these lands was Pedro Sancho de la Hoy, who received them through a special decree signed by Emperor Charles V on 24 January 1539. This decree gave to de la Hoy all territories to the south of the Strait of Magellan, including Antarctica. During the next two centuries, several other de-crees by the Spanish sovereign confirmed that all lands to the south of the Drake Passage were part of the Kingdom of Chile.
Terra Australis (the southern land), south of the Magellan Strait to the South Pole, in 1539 and Chilean governors during the colonial period had territorial jurisdiction over the Antarctic (Paravic Valdivia, 1988).
quinta gobernación llamada Terra Australis. Esta gobernación abarcaba desde la ribera sur del Estrecho de Magallanes hasta el polo; es decir, la parte más austral del continente. Sin embargo, se renunció a esta capitulación y fue cedida a favor de la Gobernación de Chile (véase Mapa 3)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)A Comisión Nacional del Antártico was reorganised in 1946 and a list of its nine objects is given. The western boundary of Antártida Argentina was extended and more bases established.
In communicating its decision to accede to the Antarctic Treaty, the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay declares that it reserves its rights in Antarctica in accordance with international law.
…formålet med anneksjonen var å legge under seg det landet som til nå ligger herreløst og som ingen andre enn nordmenn har kartlagt og gransket. Norske myndigheter har derfor ikke motsatt seg at noen tolker det norske kravet slik at det går helt opp til og inkluderer polpunktet.
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| Former claims |
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| Unclaimed | ||
| Unrecognized and proposed claims |
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