The Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on December 1, 1959, by the twelve countries that had been active on the continent during the International Geophysical Year: South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the United States, France, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.

It entered into force on June 23, 1961, and applies to the whole area south of the 60th parallel south, including the ice shelves. It has no expiration date.

Any United Nations member state may accede. In April 2026, the treaty had 58 participating countries, known as the Parties.

Since 2004, the treaty has had a permanent secretariat in Buenos Aires, which organizes meetings, preserves documents and publishes the information that countries are obliged to exchange.

Article I states that Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. Military bases, fortifications, maneuvers and weapons tests of any kind are prohibited.

Military personnel and military equipment may be present on the continent, but only to support science or other peaceful purposes. That is what navies and air forces do when they carry researchers, fuel and food to the stations.

Article V prohibits nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste in the region. The treaty was one of the early arms-control agreements signed during the Cold War.

To ensure compliance, the consultative Parties may send observers to inspect, at any time, stations, ships, aircraft and equipment of other countries, which cannot refuse access.

Article II guarantees freedom of scientific research throughout the area of the treaty. Any Party may establish a station and conduct research, provided it follows environmental rules.

Article III requires that countries exchange plans of research, scientists and results, which must be made available to all. Many stations host foreign researchers, and some are jointly operated, such as the Franco–Italian Concordia.

Countries also need to notify in advance the expeditions, stations and the military personnel and equipment they send to the continent. This exchange of information is the basis of trust among them.

Before the treaty, seven countries had claimed parts of Antarctica: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Almost all claims take the shape of a slice, with the tip at the South Pole and the sides following meridians.

The areas claimed by Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom overlap on the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands. Australia’s claim is the largest, covering about 42% of the continent. Norway claims Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island; France, Adélie Land; and New Zealand, the Ross Dependency.

Marie Byrd Land, between the meridians 90° and 150° west, was not claimed by any country and is the largest unclaimed area on the planet. The United States and Russia do not assert territorial claims, but state they have grounds to claim in the future.

Article IV froze the issue: the treaty neither recognizes nor denies claims, nothing done while it is in force can be used as a basis for a claim, and no new claim may be asserted or existing claims enlarged. That is why Antarctica has no internationally recognized owner.

Of the 58 Parties, 29 are consultative: the twelve original signatories and countries that have demonstrated substantial scientific activity in Antarctica, such as maintaining a station or sending regular expeditions. Only consultative Parties decide. Brazil has been a consultative Party since 1983, as described in Brazil in Antarctica.

Decisions are made once a year at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, always by consensus: nothing is approved if a consultative Party objects. Non-consultative Parties and observers, such as SCAR, the scientific committee, and COMNAP, which brings together national Antarctic programs, take part in discussions but do not decide.

The meeting adopts three types of instruments: measures, which become binding after approval by the governments of all consultative Parties; decisions, on internal organization; and resolutions, which are recommendations. One of the best-known measures, from 2009, limits tourist landings, as described in Tourism in Antarctica.

In the 1980s, the Parties negotiated a convention to regulate possible mining, signed in Wellington in 1988, which never entered into force. Instead, the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Madrid on October 4, 1991, and has been in force since January 14, 1998.

The protocol defines Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science and, in Article 7, prohibits any activity related to mineral resources, except for scientific research. Oil, gas and mineral extraction cannot take place on the continent.

It is common to read that this prohibition ends in 2048, which is not correct. The protocol has no end date. From 2048, fifty years after it entered into force, any consultative Party may request a review conference, and even then the prohibition could only be lifted if a mandatory regime to regulate mining were in force.

The protocol’s annexes cover environmental impact assessment for all activities, protection of fauna and flora, waste, marine pollution and protected areas. The Committee for Environmental Protection, established by the protocol, examines these topics and advises the annual meeting.

Within the treaty area there are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas, which may only be entered with government permission and under a management plan, and Antarctic Specially Managed Areas, where various activities coexist under shared rules. One of these is Admiralty Bay on King George Island, where the Brazilian station is located.

There is also a list of historic sites and monuments, including huts from the heroic age, crosses and expedition markers, and the wreck of the Endurance, described in History and exploration. They must not be damaged, removed or destroyed.

Every new activity, from a station to a tourist expedition, requires a prior environmental impact assessment. Major projects, such as building a station, are reviewed by the Committee for Environmental Protection.

Marine life is governed by its own convention, the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, known by the English acronym CCAMLR. It was signed in Canberra in 1980 and has been in force since 1982; the commission that implements it is based in Hobart, Australia.

CCAMLR regulates the fishing of krill, black cod and other species by looking at the whole ecosystem: catch limits take into account the food needs of penguins, seals and whales. Because krill is the base of the food chain, discussed in Life in Antarctica, it is central to the discussions.

In 2009 CCAMLR created the world’s first high-seas marine protected area, on the southern shelf of the South Orkney Islands, covering 94,000 square kilometers. In 2016 it approved the Ross Sea marine protected area, covering 1.55 million square kilometers, which came into force in December 2017 for 35 years; 72% of it is closed to all fishing.

CCAMLR decisions are also made by consensus, which slows the creation of new protected areas, such as proposals for the Weddell Sea, East Antarctica and the Peninsula. Seals are covered by a separate convention, signed in London in 1972.