Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

has never been permanently settled by humans, there has historically been little military activity in the Antarctic as the

Antarctic Treaty russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

, which came into effect on June 23, 1961, bans military activity in Antarctica. Military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose (such as delivering supplies) on the continent. The Antarctic Treaty specifically prohibits military activity on land or

ice shelves An ice shelf is a large floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland, Northern Canada, and the Russian Arctic. The b ...

below 60°S. While the use of nuclear weapons is absolutely prohibited, the Treaty does not apply to naval activity within these bounds (in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

) so long as it takes place on the

high seas The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

Notable operations

Military forces from many countries have provided support to scientific expeditions and bases in Antarctica. Notable operations and expeditions have included: * Commander James Cook's second voyage (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 1773) * USS ''Vincennes surveys of Antarctica (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, 1839 and 1840) * In February 1941 the German auxiliary cruiser ''Komet'' patrolled the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

and Antarctic coastline in an unsuccessful search for Allied

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

s *

Operation Tabarin Operation Tabarin was the code name for a secret British expedition to the Antarctic during World War Two, operational 1943–46. Conducted by the Admiralty on behalf of the Colonial Office, its primary objective was to strengthen British claims t ...

(United Kingdom, 1944–45) * Operation Highjump (United States, 1946–47) * Base Soberanía (

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, 1947) *

Operation Windmill Operation Windmill (OpWml) was the United States Navy's Second Antarctica Developments Project, an exploration and training mission to Antarctica in 1947–1948. This operation was a follow-up to the First Antarctica Development Project known as O ...

(United States, 1947–48) * Base O'Higgins (

, 1948) * The Australian auxiliary HMAS ''Wyatt Earp'' made an unsuccessful voyage to Antarctica in 1948. * Base González Videla (

, 1951) * Base Aguirre Cerda (

, 1955) *

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

(United States, 1955–present) *

Operación 90 Operación 90 (''Operation NINETY'') was the first Argentine ground expedition to the South Pole, conducted in 1965, by ten soldiers of the Argentine Army under then-Colonel Jorge Edgard Leal. It was performed to attempt to cement Argentina's cla ...

(

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, 1965) * Base Presidente Frei (

, 1980) *

Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station The Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station ( pt, Estação Antártica Comandante Ferraz) is a permanent Antarctic research station named after the Brazilian Navy Commander Luís Antônio de Carvalho Ferraz (1940-1982), who visited Antarctica many t ...

(

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 1984) * Operación Estrella Polar (

, 1984) * Operación Aurora Austral (

, 1996) * Estación Parodi (

, 1999) * Expedición Hielo I (

, 2002) * Expedición Hielo II (

, 2004) * In January 2006, a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K Orion maritime patrol aircraft conducted a trial flight to and from Pegasus Airfield near McMurdo Station to determine the feasibility of conducting patrols from Antarctica in support of the

Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, also known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and CCAMLR, is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. The convention was opened for s ...

. RNZAF P-3Ks have regularly conducted flights to and from Antarctica since this successful trial.

Potential for future conflicts

John Keegan Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan (15 May 1934 – 2 August 2012) was an English military historian, lecturer, author and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, ...

and Andrew Wheatcroft, in their 1986 book ''Zones of Conflict: An Atlas of Future Wars'', make the point that strategic interests in Antarctica derive from two causes: economic and strategic. Antarctica has great potential economic value, in terms of mineral and oil resources. Strategically, there was continuing concern about keeping the

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

route available for free passage during the Cold War, as, among other things, U.S. aircraft carriers cannot pass through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. The

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, Keegan and Wheatcroft go on to say, dominate the

Drake Passage The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atla ...

, the 'stretch of stormy water separating South America from the Antarctic'. This was a less publicised factor during the Falklands War. However, with the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, and increasing competition for fossil fuel resources, the 'economic' rather than the 'strategic' rationale will likely grow more important in the early twenty-first century.

References

{{Antarctica Activity Antarctic expeditions Military expeditions