The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole, overlapped by the Antarctic claims of Argentina and Chile. The claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961.
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself, are part of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal self-governance, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence, foreign relations, and internal security, and ultimate responsibility for "good" governance. Three of the territories are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel, the rest hosting significant civilian populations. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
Alan Edden Huckle is an English senior diplomat in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government. He was the commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and the British Antarctic Territory from 23 April 2001 until 12 January 2004, when he left to become the governor of Anguilla in the Caribbean. He was the Governor of Anguilla from 29 July 2004 to July 2006, having been appointed in July 2003.
The British Indian Ocean Territory is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is administered by a Commissioner, located at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. There is no Governor appointed to represent the King in the territory as there are no permanent inhabitants.
The flag of the British Antarctic Territory was granted on 21 April 1998. It features the coat of arms granted on 1 August 1963, a year after the British Antarctic Territory, a British Overseas Territory, was created. Previously, the Territory was a part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies and used the same flag. On 30 May 1969, a blue ensign with the British Antarctic Territory coat of arms in the fly was introduced as a government ensign.
Sir Rex Masterman Hunt, was a British Government diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice Admiral of the Falkland Islands between 1980 and September 1985. During the Argentine invasion of the islands in 1982, he was taken prisoner and temporarily removed from his position.
The commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The post is held in conjunction with the governorship of the Falkland Islands.
The Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory is the head of government in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Commissioner is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Commissioner does not reside in the territory, as it has had no native population since the forced depopulation of the Chagossian people in the 1970s, and the only population is the military of the United States and the United Kingdom at the joint base at Diego Garcia.
The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole. The Territory was formed on 3 March 1962, although the UK's claim to this portion of the Antarctic dates back to Letters Patent of 1908 and 1917. The area now covered by the Territory includes three regions which, before 1962, were administered by the British as separate dependencies of the Falkland Islands: Graham Land, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands.
The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Stanley.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the British Antarctic Territory since 13 October 2016. A new marriage ordinance bringing territorial legislation in line with the law in force in England and Wales was proclaimed by Commissioner Peter Hayes on 13 October, legalising marriage by same-sex couples.
Paul Candler is a British civil servant who was the Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory, Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory, and Director, Overseas Territories at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office from June 2021 to August 2024.
