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Antarctic

Antarctica is a continent surrounding the Earth's South Pole. It is the coldest place on earth and is almost entirely covered by ice. It is not to be confused with the arctic, which is located near the Earth's North Pole. Antarctica was discovered in late January 1820. For more details see the article on the History of Antarctica.

Map

Territorial claims

Antarctica has no government or centralized authority. It has never been formally colonized, though in the 20th century several nations, often those within close proximity to the continent, made territorial claims. These claims have little practical relevance but continue be observed by cartographers.

Argentine: 25°W to 74°W; Overlaps Chilean and British Claims; Claimed in 1943.
Australian: 160°E to 142°E and 136°E to 45°E; Claimed in 1933, see Australian Antarctic Territory.
Brazilian: 28°W to 53°W; Overlaps Argentine, British and Chilean Claims; Zone of Interest Designated: 1986
Chilean: 53°W to 90°W; Overlaps Argentine and British Claims; Claimed in 1940, see Chilean Antarctic Territory.
French: 142°E to 136°E; Claimed: 1924.
New Zealand: 150°W to 160°E; Claimed: 1923, see Ross Dependency.
Norwegian: 45°E to 20°E (Queen Maud Land) and Peter I Island; Claimed: 1938.
British: 20°W to 80°W; Overlaps Argentine and Chilean Claims; Claimed: 1908.
- See:British Antarctic Territory, List of Commissioners of the British Antarctic Territory, List of High Commissioners of the British Antarctic Territory and List of Administrators of the British Antarctic Territory

Old claims

German: 20°E to 10°W; Overlapped Norwegian claim; Claimed: 1939-1945.
South African: xxx°y to xxx°y; Claimed: 1963-1994.

Most countries that have observation or study facilities in Antarctica (see above) have such stations present within their claimed territory, though this is not always the case. The Antarctic Treaty defers these claims and most other nations do not recognize them. No other nations have made claims themselves, although the United States and Russia assert the right to do so. No formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west.

Geography

Typical for Antarctica are gigantic table-top icebergs. The continent is surrounded by a large pack ice zone, in which one of the most remarkable ecosystems of the planet developed, based on the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. It is the food of whales, penguins, fish, seals and many birds.

(photo ) from [1])

Satellite image - Large version

Population

Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations on the continent. Many of the stations are staffed around the year. These include:

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, South Pole (U.S. Antarctic Program)
Casey, Vincennes Bay (Australian Antarctic Division)
Davis Princess Elizabeth Land (Australian Antarctic Division)
Halley Research Station (75°35' S, 26°34' W) British Antarctic Survey
Rothera Research Station (67°34' S, 68°08' W) British Antarctic Survey
McMurdo Station, Ross Island (U.S.)
Macquarie Island (Australian Antarctic Division)
Mawson, Mac Robertson Land (Australian Antarctic Division)
Scott Base, Ross Island (New Zealand)
Rothera (67S, 68W) British Antarctic Survey
SANAE (South African National Antarctic Expeditions), on the Fimbul Coastal Ice Shelf in Queen Maud Land
Bernardo O'Higgins Station, Antarctic Peninsula, Chilean Army.
Eduardo Frei Montalva Station and Villa Las Estrellas, King George Island, Chilean Air Force.

For a more details see Demographics of Antarctica

Additional topics

Antarctica is also one of the eight ecozones put forward by Miklos Udvardy.

External links

Ecozones

Antarctic biome

Tundra

Tabletop icebergs in Antarctica

Referenced By

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Antarctic".