Who can truly claim Antarctica?

In a way, nobody can claim Antarctica. In another way, everybody can claim this frozen continent. In actuality, nobody owns Antarctica albeit 7 nations do somewhat have their mitts on certain regions while staking claims to certain portions of these great ice sheets. The 7 nations trying to get a piece of the arctic pie is the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Norway, and France. Good grief, France is involved? Are they looking for frozen pastries or something? LOL! Just joking, of course.

I do like this quote, however: "Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union, prime players on the southern stage, claims Antarctic territory nor honors the claims of others; however, both consider the continent politically important." You can read the elaborate version, here: www.globalclassroom.org/antarct9.html

At any frigid rate, the place is not like some populated area or anything of the like. Outside of the fish, birds, whales and seals that live on Antarctica, it is mostly ground for scientific experiments. Do you remember Lake Vostok? If not, I once wrote about that awesome, mysterious place, here: Mystery at Antarctica - Lake Vostok

I have heard about secret bunkers and extraterrestrial activity in Antarctica, as well, but what would any story be like without those 2 primary components of mystery? Maybe the ice will quit melting and shifting and re-freezing in the wrong areas, or else we'll endure another polar shift via planetary weight displacement; ha! Let's hope not! Dang, I'm way off subject here. Oh, the bottom line is, this is one continent that hasn't been claimed or dominated as of yet. Ain't that cool?

Update: I thought I'd come back a few years later an add a few tidbits to this post. It seems that Russia and the United States have become more and more interested in Antarctica. While nobody can truly claim it as of yet, activity has definitely increased in that area. As of now, the living conditions on that continent is still too harsh for humans to permanently inhabit the area, but many folks think (and plan on) the conditions to improve in the future. Many people have calculated that the long-term effects of global warming will, by the beginning of the 22nd century, see parts of West Antarctica experiencing similar climate conditions to those found today in Alaska and Northern Scandinavia. Which sparks interest in the idea that even the ability to grow certain types of crops and farming could be possible in some of the most northerly areas of Antarctica in the distant future. Hmm, maybe that is why a few more countries have shown a growing interest in this vast ice land of late.

This next tidbit is a quote from Wikipedia about the colonization of this continent: "Currently, the continent hosts only a transitory population of scientists and support staff. Antarctica is the only continent on Earth without naturally occurring human inhabitants, despite its proximity to Argentina and Chile at the Antarctic Peninsula. [At the time of this update] Scientists and staff from 30 countries live on about 70 bases (40 year-round and 30 summer-only), with an approximate population of 4,000 in summer and 1,000 in winter. There have been at least 11 human births in Antarctica, starting with 1 in 1978 at an Argentine base, with 7 more at that base and 3 at a Chilean base." You can read more about that, here: Colonization of Antarctica - Wikipedia

Regardless of the claims and plans for some of these scientists and other countries in the future, that place is still too dang cold for me. I hope planet Earth doesn't get that hot for the inhabitants, as for that frigid continent to become farmland by the beginning of the next century would mean we are doomed nearly everywhere else; ha! No, that's not funny... Okay, maybe it won't be that bad... Yikes!

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Image Credit: This file is in the public domain because it was solely created by NASA.

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