Antarctica

Looking into the future, Antarctica is a candidate for territorial conflict. It is true that there is a ratified Antarctic Treaty of 1961, in which economic and military use is renounced and science is given priority. However, the hunger for resources of the evergrowing world population is unabated. The melting of the poles will do the rest to make resource extraction in Antarctica lucrative. Then, at the latest, tensions will arise. Already today there are territorial claims by Chile, Argentina, France, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. These are partly overlapping.

The USA and Russia do not recognize territorial claims in Antarctica and reserve such claims for themselves. In the event, it is certainly not far-fetched that Japan and China will also show interest. Even another treaty ratified in 1998 will not change or stop the interest in economic exploitation of Antarctica in the future. Chile, for example, already has a military presence in Antarctica today.

Not to be forgotten are the many countries (currently 29), that operate (nearly 100) or have operated research stations in Antarctica. Here, too, it will be interesting to see how these countries behave when it comes to resource exploitation.

Philatelically, France (TAAF), Great Britain (BAT), Australia (AAT) and New Zealand (Ross Dependency) also back up their claim by issuing their own stamps for the areas they claim. And this has been the case for decades. Countries like Argentina and Chile abundantly and Norway document their claim with stamp issues. And also many of the countries that operate research stations indicate this fact on stamps. Not to mention the countless Antarctic expeditions of many countries, which are also honored on stamps.

Claims

Antartica stations/bases