The South Polar Region.
Moubray Bay and Mount Herschel, Eastern Antarctica.
The
Antarctic () is the
region around the
Earth's
South Pole, opposite the
Arctic region around the
North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the
continent of
Antarctica and the
ice shelves, waters and
island territories in the
Southern Ocean situated south of the
Antarctic Convergence. The region covers some 20% of the
Southern Hemisphere, of which 5.5% (14 million km
2) is the surface area of the continent itself.
Geography
The maritime part of the region constitutes the area of application of the international
Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), where for technical reasons the Convention uses an approximation of the Convergence line by means of a line joining specified points along
parallels of latitude and
meridians of longitude. The implementation of the Convention is managed through an international Commission headquartered in
Hobart,
Australia by an efficient system of annual
fishing quotas, licenses and international inspectors on the fishing vessels, as well as
satellite surveillance.
Most of Antarctica region is situated south of 60°S latitude parallel, and is governed in accordance with the international legal regime of the
Antarctic Treaty System. The Treaty area covers the continent itself and its immediately adjacent islands, as well as the
archipelagos of the
South Orkney Islands,
South Shetland Islands,
Peter I Island,
Scott Island and
Balleny Islands.
The islands situated between 60°S latitude parallel to the south and the
Antarctic Convergence to the north, and their respective 200-
mile Exclusive Economic Zones fall under the national
jurisdiction of the countries that possess them:
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (
United Kingdom; also an
EU Overseas territory),
Bouvet Island (
Norway), and
Heard and McDonald Islands (
Australia).
Kerguelen Islands (
France; also an
EU Overseas territory) are situated in the Antarctic Convergence area, while the
Falkland Islands,
Isla de los Estados,
Hornos Island with
Cape Horn,
Diego Ramírez Islands,
Campbell Island,
Macquarie Island,
Amsterdam and
Saint Paul Islands,
Crozet Islands,
Prince Edward Islands, and
Gough Island and
Tristan da Cunha group remain north of the Convergence and thus outside the Antarctic region.
Society
The first Antarctic land discovered by man was the island of
South Georgia, visited by the
English merchant
Anthony de la Roché in 1675. The first human born in Antarctica was
Solveig Gunbjörg Jacobsen born on 8 October 1913 in
Grytviken, South Georgia. Antarctica region had no
indigenous population when first discovered, and its present inhabitants comprise few thousand transient
scientific and other personnel working on tours of duty at the several dozen
research stations maintained by various countries. However, the region is visited by more than 40,000 tourists annually, the most popular destinations being the
Antarctic Peninsula area (especially the
South Shetland Islands) and
South Georgia Island.
See also
Map
Cruise ship at
Petermann Island, with the Antarctic Peninsula in the background.
