Antarctica – from the last unknown continent to a place of science and peace
Antarctica has a long geological past: for hundreds of millions of years it was part of the supercontinent Gondwana, drifted across different climate zones and was at times covered in forests. Only after Gondwana broke apart did it settle over the South Pole and become buried beneath a vast ice sheet. Unlike every other continent, it never had an Indigenous human population.
For centuries geographers speculated about a great southern land. The continent was first sighted in 1820, and during the nineteenth century sealers, whalers and naval expeditions explored its coasts. The early twentieth century became the "Heroic Age" of Antarctic exploration: Roald Amundsen's team reached the South Pole in December 1911, Robert Falcon Scott's party arrived shortly afterwards and died on the return journey, and Ernest Shackleton's expeditions became legendary for their endurance.
Several countries made territorial claims, some of them overlapping. After intensive international research during the International Geophysical Year, the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959. It reserves the continent for peaceful purposes, guarantees freedom of scientific research, bans military activity and puts territorial claims on hold. A later environmental protocol from 1991 prohibits mining and protects the fragile ecosystem.
Today Antarctica is shaped by international research stations, a small rotating population of scientists and staff, and its key role in understanding the Earth's climate.
Have you been to Antarctica or do you have stories and photos from the far south? Share them with the community in the local history section.