The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of 3,687 km2 (1,424 sq mi). They lie about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between 430 and 900 km southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes.
King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, lying 120 km off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. The island was named after King George III.
Antártica Chilena Province is the southernmost of the four provinces in Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region (XII). The capital is Puerto Williams. The province comprises the extreme southern part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, the islands south and west of Isla Grande, and Chile's claims in Antarctica. The province is administratively divided into two communes (comunas): Cabo de Hornos, located at the southern tip of South America, and Antártica, a wedge-shaped claim of Antarctica, which is not internationally recognized. Its total area of 1,265,853.7 km2 (488,749 sq mi) makes it almost twice as large as all other provinces of Chile combined.
Argentine Antarctica is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25° West and 74° West meridians and the 60° South parallel. This region overlaps with British and Chilean claims in Antarctica. None of these claims have widespread international recognition.
Brazilian Antarctica is the Antarctic territory south of 60°S, and from 28°W to 53°W, proposed as "Zone of Interest" by geopolitical scholar Therezinha de Castro. While the substance of that designation has never been precisely defined, it does not formally contradict the Argentine and British claims geographically overlapping with that zone. The country formally expressed its reservations with respect to its territorial rights in Antarctica when it acceded to the Antarctic Treaty on 16 May 1975, making the first official mention of the Frontage Theory, which states (simplified) that sovereignty over each point in Antarctica properly belongs to the first country whose non-Antarctic territory one would reach when travelling north in a straight line from such a point. The Frontage Theory was proposed by Brazilian geopolitical scholar Therezinha de Castro and published in her book Antártica: Teoria da Defrontação.
Villa Las Estrellas is a permanently inhabited outpost on King George Island within the Chilean Antarctic claim, the Chilean Antarctic Territory, and also within the Argentine and British Antarctic claims.
Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva is the most important Antarctic base of Chile. It is located at Fildes Peninsula, an ice-free area, in front of Fildes Bay, at the west end of King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Situated alongside the Escudero Station and only 200 metres (660 ft) from the Russian Bellingshausen Station, it is at an altitude of 10 metres (33 ft) above sea-level. The base is located in the Chilean commune of Antártica, which is the Antarctic territory claimed by Chile.
The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica, is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53°W and 90°W, partially overlapping the Antarctic claims of Argentina and the United Kingdom. It constitutes the Antártica commune of Chile.
The Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station is a permanent Antarctic research station named after the Brazilian Navy Commander Luís Antônio de Carvalho Ferraz (1940–1982), who visited Antarctica many times with the British exploration team and managed to convince his government to create a self-guided Brazilian Antarctic Program.
As Antarctica has never been permanently settled by humans, there has historically been little military activity in the Antarctic. The Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect on June 23, 1961, bans military activity from the continent. Military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purposes, such as delivering supplies.
Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. 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 as China, India, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa (SANAE), Poland, and the United 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.
Antarctica contains research stations and field camps that are staffed seasonally or year-round, and former whaling settlements. Approximately 12 nations, all signatory to the Antarctic Treaty, send personnel to perform seasonal (summer) or year-round research on the continent and in its surrounding oceans. There are also two official civilian settlements: Villa Las Estrellas in Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva operated by Chile, and Fortín Sargento Cabral in Esperanza Base operated by Argentina.
The Instituto Antártico Argentino is the Argentine federal agency in charge of orientating, controlling, addressing and performing scientific and technical research and studies in the Antarctic.
Juan Pablo Camacho Martino is the first Chilean born in the Antarctic Region and the ninth person born south of the 60 parallel. He was born in Villa Las Estrellas at the Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Base in King George Island. He was the first person in being conceived in the continent.
The Brazilian Antarctic Program is a program of the Brazilian Navy which has presence in the continent of Antarctica. It coordinates research and the operational support for research in the region. It currently maintains a year-round research station in Antarctica, as well as several seasonal field camps. It also maintains two research vessels that sail in the Antarctic waters.
The Criosfera 1 is a Brazilian standalone research module for atmospheric data collection, prepared at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) for the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR).
Refuge Astronomer Cruls is a Brazilian Antarctic summer facility named after astronomer Luis Cruls who set up an expedition in 1882 to Punta Arenas in order to observe the passage of Venus across the disk of the Sun. The structure, established on 25 January 1985, is situated on Nelson Island, southwest of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Luís Antônio de Carvalho Ferraz was a Brazilian Navy officer, engineer, hydrographer, oceanographer, and Brazilian pioneer in Antarctica.
Vivian Helena Pellizari is a Brazilian Antarctic scientist known for her work on establishing Antarctic microbiology in Brazil. Pellizari is the head of Department of Oceanographic Biology at Oceanographic Institute of University of São Paulo.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Antarctica is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Due to its remoteness and sparse population, Antarctica was the last continent to have confirmed cases of COVID-19 and was one of the last regions of the world affected directly by the pandemic. The first cases were reported in December 2020, almost a year after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in China. At least 36 people are confirmed to have been infected. Even before the first cases on the continent were reported, human activity in Antarctica was indirectly impacted.
Chile's Frei Montalva was the first base to receive the distress signal sent by the Brazilian station at 02:40 am (local time). The Chilean Navy activated an emergency plan, sending two boats with firefighting crew to the scene, in addition to equipment and supplies, such as pumps, hoses and extinguishers. The Chilean help arrived at 3:46 am (local time) after sailing for 1 hour. A third ship, tugboat Lautaro, arrived at 05:00 am (local time). At daylight, the Chilean Navy sent two Bolkow helicopters to evacuate the Brazilian personnel back to Frei Montalva base. [2] 
Argentina responded by sending the Argentine Navy vessel Puerto Deseado and crew to the scene. The Argentine Air Force later transported the Brazilian personnel from the Chilean base to Punta Arenas, Chile. [3] 
Poland's Arctowski Station also sent staff to support the firefighting efforts. Polish medics administered first aid to the Brazilian soldier injured in the fire. [2] 
United Kingdom's ice patrol ship HMS Protector received the distress call from Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station and sailed to King George Island to provide assistance to the research station. 23 of her sailors were put ashore with fire-fighting equipment to tackle the large blaze. [4] 
