Chilean Antarctic Territory

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Chilean Antarctic Territory" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Chilean Antarctic Territory Territorio Chileno Antártico
Coat of arms
Location in Antarctica.
Country	Chile
Region	Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica
Province	Antártica Chilena
Commune	Antártica
Claimed	6 November 1940
Government
• Governor	Jorge Flies
• Regional delegate	José Ruiz Pivcevic
• Mayor	Patricio Fernández
• INACH Director	Andrés López
Area [1]
• Total	1,250,257.6 km2 (482,727.2 sq mi)
Population  (2012 Census)[1]
• Total	115
• Density	0.00009/km2 (0.0002/sq mi)
Sex [1]
• Men	100
• Women	15
Time zone	UTC-3
Area code	56 + 61
Capital	Villa Las Estrellas
Currency	Chilean Peso
Website	http://www.inach.cl/ (in Spanish)

The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica (Spanish: Territorio Chileno Antártico, Antártica Chilena), is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53°W and 90°W,^[2] partially overlapping the Antarctic claims of Argentina (Argentine Antarctica) and the United Kingdom (British Antarctic Territory). It constitutes the Antártica commune of Chile.

The territory covers the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula (called O'Higgins Land—Tierra de O'Higgins—in Chile), and the adjacent islands of Alexander Island, Charcot Island and Ellsworth Land, among others. Its boundaries are defined by Decree 1747, issued on November 6, 1940, and published on June 21, 1955,^[3] by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

The Chilean Antarctica or Chilean Antarctic Territory is: all lands, islands, islets, reefs, glaciers (pack-ice), and others, known and unknown, and respective territorial waters, existing within the limits of the cap constituted by the meridians 53° longitude west of Greenwich and 90° longitude west of Greenwich.

The commune of Antártica has an area of 1,250,257.6 km^2[4] and is managed by the municipality of Cabo de Hornos with a seat in Puerto Williams in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (thus Antártica is the only commune in Chile not administered by a municipality of its own). It belongs to the province of Antártica Chilena, which itself is a part of the region of Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena. The commune was created on July 11, 1961, and was part of the Magallanes Province until 1974, when the Antártica Chilena Province was created.

Chilean sovereignty over the Chilean Antarctic Territory is exercised in conformity with the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. This treaty established that Antarctic activities are to be devoted exclusively to peaceful purposes by the signatories and acceding countries, thereby freezing territorial disputes and preventing the construction of new claims or the expansion of existing ones.^[5]

The Chilean Antarctic Territory corresponds geographically to time zones UTC-4, UTC-5, and UTC-6, but as with Magallanes it uses UTC-3 year-round. Chile currently has 13 active Antarctic bases: 4 permanent, 5 seasonal, and 4 shelters.