Antarctic Treaty comes into force

As claimant to the Ross Dependency, New Zealand took part in a 1959 conference in Washington DC about the political and international status of Antarctica. The resulting Antarctic Treaty covering all land and ice shelves south of latitude 60°S was agreed to by the 12 participating states. In 2023 there were 56 parties to the treaty.

In the midst of the Cold War, the treaty declared that ‘Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.’ Military activity was outlawed, and nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste were prohibited. Antarctica effectively became the world’s first nuclear-free zone.

The treaty shelved territorial claims and the even more vexing problem of overlapping claims. It stated that nothing in it could be interpreted as a denial ‘of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty’, but that activities taking place while the treaty was in force would not constitute a basis for claiming sovereignty. No new claims (or enlargements of existing claims) could be made during the life of the treaty.