About
The Antarctic Treaty（https://www.ats.aq/e/antarctictreaty.html）
The Antarctic Treaty
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve countries whose scientists had been active in and around Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. It entered into force in 1961 and has since been acceded to by many other nations. The total number of Parties to the Treaty is now 58.
Some important provisions of the Treaty:
Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only Art. I
Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end… shall continue Art. II
Scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available Art. III
Among the signatories of the Treaty were seven countries - Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom - with territorial claims , sometimes overlapping. Other countries do not recognize any claims. The US and Russia maintain a “basis of claim”. All positions are explicitly protected in Article IV, which preserves the status quo: