What was the Antarctic Treaty of 1959?
“The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth’s only continent without a native population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of the southern 60th parallel. The treaty has now been signed by 46 countries, including the now-defunct Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States, and set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and banned military activity on that continent.
The Antarctic Treaty Done at Washington 1 December 1959 Entered into force 23 June 1961 The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, RECOGNIZING that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord; ACKNOWLEDGING the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica; CONVINCED that the establishment of a firm foundation for the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical Year accords with the interests of science and the progress of
