Managing the frozen commons - Antarctica: Global Science from a Frozen Continent - page 276

In these early days it was British expeditions that led the exploration of the
continent, although there were also notable expeditions from Australia, Belgium,
France, Germany, Japan, Norway and Sweden.
It was the Norwegian whaling companies that speeded up annexation.
They wanted to establish facilities on land and asked the British government for
permits to do this. In 1908 the United Kingdom established the Falkland Islands
Dependencies, covering the sector from 20 Wto80 W (later renamed the British
Antarctic Territory). At the same time it put in place licensing fees for whales caught
in this sector, and allowed establishment of whaling stations on South Georgia
and in the South Shetland Islands.
At this time, the British had the world's strongest navy, and the claim was
not challenged by force. But Argentine and Chilean interests were also present,
through whaling activities in South Georgia and Deception Island, respectively.
Argentina had also 4 years earlier taken over the meteorological station that
Bruce's Scotia expedition had established on Laurie Island in the South Orkney
Islands. This station, later renamed Orcadas, has been in operation ever since and
is the station in Antarctica with the longest records.
The next sector to be claimed was also a result of British and Commonwealth
explorations, namely New Zealand's claim from 1923 on the Ross Dependency, from
150 W to 160 E. Only a year later, France claimed Adélie Land, from 142 2 0 Eto
136 11 0 E. In 1933 Australia claimed the Australian Antarctic Territory, which
extends from 160 Eto45 E, except for the sector claimed by France. In 1939
Norway claimed Dronning Maud Land, from 45 Eto20 W. This is the only
claim that is not a sector, as Norway does not adhere to the sector principle in
the Antarctic. Norway also claimed Peter I Island, at 68 50 0 S90 35 0 W, in 1929.
By 1939 the whole of the Arctic continent was claimed, except for a
sector from 80 W to 150 W. The five claimant nations, who over the years have

mutually recognised each other's claim, hoped that the United States would claim
the remaining sector. The United States had been active in this area, and such a
claim would have meant that all of Antarctica had been divided up. But this was not
to be. Instead the United States, and also the Soviet Union/Russia, chose to maintain
a claim on all of Antarctica, based on their explorations of the whole continent.
Formal jurisdictional disagreements were heightened when Chile in 1940
claimed a sector of Antarctica, from 53 Wto90 W, and when Argentina 3 years
later did the same for the sector from 25 Wto74 W. Their positions were based
more on contiguity than on primacy of presence. As can be seen the Argentine,
British and Chilean claims all overlap from 53 Wto74 W, which corresponds to
the longitudes of the Antarctic Peninsula. On both sides there are sectors disputed
by only two of the countries, and the British and the Chilean claims also contain
segments that they claim alone.