The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, setting aside the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Madrid Protocol, is a complementary legal instrument to the Antarctic Treaty signed in Madrid on October 4, 1991. It entered into force on January 14, 1998.
McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,500 residents, and serves as one of three year-round United States Antarctic science facilities. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo. McMurdo Station continues to operate as the hub for American activities on the Antarctic continent. By road, McMurdo is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from New Zealand's smaller Scott Base.
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. The base was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, and now conducts research in many fields, operated by Antarctica New Zealand.
The Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora is a set of environmental protection measures which were accepted at the third Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Brussels in 1964. The Agreed Measures were formally in force as part of the Antarctic Treaty System from 1982 to 2011, when they were withdrawn as the principles were now entirely superseded by later agreements such as the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The Agreed Measures were adopted in order to further international collaboration within the administration of the Antarctic Treaty System and promote the protection of natural Antarctic ecological systems while enabling scientific study and exploration.
The Indian Antarctic Programme is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional programme under the control of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica. The programme gained global acceptance with India's signing of the Antarctic Treaty and subsequent construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983, superseded by the Maitri base from 1989. The newest base commissioned in 2012 is Bharati, constructed out of 134 shipping containers. Under the programme, atmospheric, biological, earth, chemical, and medical sciences are studied by India, which has carried out 40 scientific expeditions to the Antarctic.
Showa Station, sometimes alternately spelled Syowa Station, is a Japanese permanent research station on East Ongul Island in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Built in 1957, Showa Station is named for the era in the Japanese calendar during which it was established, the Shōwa period.
A flag of Antarctica is a flag or flag design that represents the continent of Antarctica. As a condominium with no single governing body, it does not have an official flag of its own. However, several designs have been created for the purpose of representing the continent.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council (ISC). SCAR coordinates international scientific research efforts in Antarctica, including the Southern Ocean.
Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station is a Polish research station on King George Island, off the coast of Antarctica.
The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat (ATS) is a subsidiary body of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and, as such, performs its duties under the ATCM's direction. The ATCM is the forum that brings together the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, Non-Consultative Parties, Observers and Experts. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 and entered into force in 1961.
The General Artigas Station, also referred to as the Artigas Base is the larger of the two Uruguayan scientific research stations in Antarctica, the other one being Elichiribehety Base. It is one of the 68 bases in Antarctica.
The Uruguayan Antarctic Institute is Uruguay's governmental agency to fund, organize, control and promote research on Antarctica according with the Antarctic Treaty System. It was founded by scientists, and is now managed by Uruguay's Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Education.
Dame Jane Elizabeth Francis, is the Director of the British Antarctic Survey. She previously worked as Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds where she also was Dean of the Faculty of Environment. In 2002 she was the fourth woman to receive the Polar Medal for outstanding contribution to British polar research. She is currently the Chancellor of the University of Leeds.
Antarctica has no permanent residents. It 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.
A national Antarctic program is any government operated or supported program which is mandated with managing the support of scientific research and contributing to the governance and protection of the Antarctic environment on behalf of its nation and in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty. The Antarctic Treaty, the international agreement that regulates Antarctic activity, has been signed by 54 countries. Of those, 38 have national Antarctic programs. 31 of these programs have a permanent presence in Antarctica and are members of Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP). Six countries have no permanent presence in Antarctica, but have programs that are observers to COMNAP. Only one country, Pakistan, maintains a national Antarctic program with no affiliation to COMNAP.
Michelle Rogan-Finnemore is a New Zealand-American science administrator, and currently the Executive Secretary of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) which is the international association which brings together the National Antarctic Programs that make up its members. She is also the namesake of Finnemore Peak.
Florica Topârceanu is an Antarctic researcher, best known for her work was on Antarctic aquatic viruses and the development of the Antarctic scientific community in Romania. She was the first Romanian woman biologist to study life in Antarctica and the first Romanian woman expert to the Antarctic Treaty.
Patricia Veronica Ortúzar is a polar scientist with the Direccion Nacional del Antartico in Argentina. She is the head of the Environment Management and Tourism Program of the Direccion Nacional del Antartico. She is the vice chair of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) within the Antarctic Treaty System.
The Antarctic Treaty issue is a postage stamp that was issued by the United States Post Office Department on June 23, 1971. Designed by Howard Koslow, it commemorates the ten-year anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, and is notable as Koslow's first postage stamp design.
