AskBiography Logo   Latest News  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Google Buzz  Became Fan - Facebook  Subscribe to RSSRSS   Bookmark and Share

British Antarctic Territory

British Antarctic Territory
General information
Common namethe British Antarctic Territory
MottoResearch and discovery
AnthemGod save the Queen
CapitalRothera (Main base)
London (location of administration/Commissioner)
Official languagesEnglish (de facto)
Government
GovernmentBritish Overseas Territory
MonarchElizabeth II
CommissionerColin Roberts
Claimed1908
Geography
Total Area659828.4 sq mi (1709400 km2)
Demography
Population Est.250 
Economy
Other information
CurrencyPound Sterling (GBP)
Internet TLD.aq

     Home | Country | British Antarctic Territory



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. Since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961, Article 1 of which states "The treaty does not recognize, dispute, nor establish territorial sovereignty claims; no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force", most countries do not recognise territorial claims in Antarctica.

The Territory overlaps the Antarctic claims of Argentina (Argentine Antarctica) and Chile (Antártica Chilena Province). It is inhabited by the staff of research and support stations operated and maintained by the British Antarctic Survey and other organisations, and stations of Argentina, Chile and other countries. There are no native inhabitants.


Warning: simplexml_load_file(http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/-/British/Antarctic/Territory?orderby=viewCount&max-results=10) [function.simplexml-load-file]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.0 410 Gone in /home/askbio/public_html/index_bio.php on line 257

Warning: simplexml_load_file() [function.simplexml-load-file]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/-/British/Antarctic/Territory?orderby=viewCount&max-results=10" in /home/askbio/public_html/index_bio.php on line 257

Fatal error: Call to a member function children() on a non-object in /home/askbio/public_html/index_bio.php on line 260