Joe Reeves, age 12, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for this question:
WHO OWNS ANTARCTICA?
Antarctica is the fifth largest continent on earth. It has an area of about 5.1 million square miles, which makes it almost twice the size of Australia. The land is buried under an icecap of about 7 million cubic miles, which is enough to cover the entire United States with a layer of ice two miles thick. At the South Pole, the ice is nearly 9,000 feet thick.
Antarctic lay undiscovered and unsought until 1772 when a British explorer named Captain James Cook sailed around the continent without sighting land.
First to set foot on the continent was an American seal hunter named John Davis. He and his crew landed near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1821.
Through the years, explorers from many lands traveled over the icy area. A Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen on Dec. 14, 1911, became the first to reach the South Pole.
During the Internal Geophysical Year, which extended from July 1, 1957 to Dec. 31, 1958, 12 countries cooperated on a gigantic research and exploration program in Antarctica. Included were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chili, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, the Union of South Africa and the United States. About 40 stations were set up.
Earlier, Argentina and Chili had established permanent stations on the Antarctic Peninsula. Also, Great Britain had claimed some of the land as did Australia, France, New Zealand and Norway. The United States has never claimed territory and has suggested that no nation's claim is valid unless permanent settlement has taken place.
In 1959, the 12 nations that had been active in Antarctica, including the United States and Russia, signed a treaty delaying any final settlement of claims for 30 years.
The 12 nations also agreed that Antartica would be used only for peaceful purposes. Any of the 12 can make unlimited inspections of all Antarctic bases to make sure the continent is not used for nuclear testing or other military purposes.
The United States today, for scientific purposes, retains four of the seven stations it built during the International Geophysical Year. The bases are the Amundsen Scott Station at the South Pole, Byrd Station in Marie Byrd Land, Hallet Station, operated jointly with New Zealand near Cape Adare and McMurdow Naval Station on the Ross Sea coast.
McMurdo Naval Air Station is Antarctica's largest community. It has an 8,000 foot ice runway. Nuclear energy is used to supply electricity and heat.
Amundsen Scott and Byrd Station each are located on icecaps. Networks of tunnels connect living quarters with laboratories and workshops. Airplanes and radio link these fully equipped bases with the rest of the world.