Antarctica Case Study

Antarctica Significant toponyms? Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf named after James C Ross, the English explorer who charted much of Antarctica’s coast line. Queen Maud Land named after Norway’s Queen Maud. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, gave Queen Maud Land its name in 1939. Ronne Ice Shelf Amundsen Scott station Map shows names of Antarctic explorers or political rulers.

What are the four components of a state? Sovereignty – independence. Population Government Land Which of these are lacking in Antarctica?

Antarctica is the only large Landmass on the Earth’s surface that is not part of a state.

States with territorial claims to Antarctica New Zealand Australia France Norway UK Argentina Chile

Claims: Other countries with claims: Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, Uruguay.

Treaty of Antarctica Signed: 1959 Designates Antarctica as a continent for science and peace. Provides a legal framework for managing Antarctica. No military activity. No nuclear testing. Bans further territorial claims. Did not address mining rights.

Sketch, label and color… The political geography claims of Antarctica. (Each country needs its own color.) Which three states have overlapping claims? On the world map: Label and color the claimant states. (Use the same colors for each country as above.) What is the correlation between the claimant states and the claimed territories? Chile, Argentina and UK

Speculate Speculate the long term benefits that Antarctica could provide to the countries making claims to the territory.