Chilean Antarctic Territory

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 6 November 1940 and published on 21 June 1955 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 km² (482,727.2 sq mi). If reckoned as Chilean national territory, it comprises 62.28% of the total area of the country. It 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 1961. 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.

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.

History

Chilean Antarctica in colonial times

For many years, cartographers and European explorers speculated about the existence of the Terra Australis Incognita, a landmass potentially of vast size located south of the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego.

On 7 June 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between Spain and Portugal. This treaty gave rights to newly discovered territories to the two countries according to a line running from pole to pole; at 46° 37'W in the Spanish classical interpretation and farther west according to the Portuguese interpretation. The areas of Antarctica claimed by Chile today fall within the region granted to Spain by this original treaty. Though backed by the papal bull Ea quae pro bono pacis in 1506, the Treaty of Tordesillas was not recognized by several other European powers, including France and other Catholic states. For England, the Netherlands, Russia and other countries, the Antarctic areas were considered res nullius, a no man's land, subject to the occupation of any nation that had the courage and ambition to send people to claim them.

After the discovery of the Strait of Magellan in 1520, cartographers were convinced of the ancient theory of Claudio Tolomeo about the existence of a continent around the South Pole. Maps and charts were published on the basis that Tierra del Fuego was the discovered part of that continent.

In 1534, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V divided the South American territory of Spain into three governorates: New Castile or Peru (to Francisco Pizarro), New Toledo or Chile (to Diego de Almagro) and New León (to Simón de Alcazaba y Sotomayor) also known as the Magellanic Lands and subsequently extended to the Strait of Magellan.

In 1539, a new governorate was formed south of New León called the Terra Australis under Pedro Sánchez de la Hoz. This consisted of the land south of the Strait of Magellan, i.e. Tierra del Fuego, and onward unexplored land to the South Pole. At the time, the existence of the Drake Passage was not known and Tierra del Fuego thought to be part of the Antarctic mainland.

In 1554, the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, who led the Governorate of Chile, talked to the Council of the Indies about giving the rights of New León and Terra Australis to Jeronimo de Alderete. After the death of Valdivia in the following year, Alderete became the governor of Chile and thereby claimed New León and Terra Australis for Chile. A Royal Decree of 1554 states:

Because it was personally consulted, we will grant to the Captain Jeronimo de Alderete the land across the Magellan Strait.

Later, in 1558, the Royal Decree of Brussels prompted the Chilean colonial government to "take ownership in our name from the lands and provinces that fall in the demarcation of the Spanish crown", referring to the land "across the Strait", i.e. Terra Australis.

One of the most important works of Spanish literature, the epic poem La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla, is considered by Chileans to give encouragement to their territorial claims in Antarctica. In the seventh stanza of his Canto I:

Northern Chile is of great length; it is called the coast of the new Sea of the South. From east to west it is narrow, 100 miles at its broadest, and at 27 degrees from the South Pole, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans mix their waters in a narrow channel. And those two seas which clamour to join, passing along it, beat the rocks and spread out their waves, preventing numerous islands from joining together. At this point the land is split; here the waters can communicate. Magellan, Sir, was the first to open this path, which was then given his name.

A circle located '27 degrees from the South Pole' corresponds to a latitude of 63 degrees south, on the southern side of the Drake Passage and just north of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, ambiguity suggests that a misplaced Strait of Magellan may be referred to.

There are other stories and maps, both Chilean and European, indicating that Terra Australis and Antarctica were claimed by the Captaincy General of Chile for the Spanish Empire.

In March 1603, the Spanish navigator Gabriel de Castilla sailed from Valparaíso entrusted with three ships belonging to the viceroy of Peru, Luis de Velasco y Castilla. The goal of this expedition was to repress the incursions of Dutch privateers in the Southern Seas as far as 64 degrees south latitude. No documents confirming the latitude reached or land sighted have been found in the Spanish archives. However, a story told by the Dutch sailor Laurenz Claesz (date unknown, but probably after 1607), gives interesting details. Claesz said:

[They] sailed under the Admiral don Gabriel of Castile with three ships along the coasts of Chile towards Valparaíso, and from there to the strait. In March of 1603, he reached 64 degrees and they had a lot of snow there. In the following April, they returned back to the coast of Chile.

In 1622, a Dutch document was published in Amsterdam stating that at 64 degrees south there was land which was "very high and mountainous, snow cover, like the country of Norway, all white, land. It seemed to extend to the Solomon Islands". This could be the first recorded sighting by a European of the Antarctic Peninsula. Other historians attribute the first sighting of Antarctic land to the Dutch mariner Dirk Gerritsz. According to his account, his ship was diverted from its course by a storm after passing through the Strait of Magellan as part of a Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1599. Gerritsz may have sighted the South Shetland Islands, though there are doubts about his trustworthiness. Other authorities place the first sighting of mainland Antarctica as late as 27 January 1820 by an expedition of the Imperial Russian Navy led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.

Open ocean south of South America was reported by the Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces in 1525 and by Sir Francis Drake in 1578. The existence of Drake Passage was confirmed when the Dutch navigator Willem Schouten became the first to sail around Cape Horn en route to the East Indies in 1616. In 1772, the British explorer Captain James Cook circumnavigated the Southern Ocean.

19th century

After the colonies in the Americas had gained their independence, the new Spanish republics agreed amongst themselves to recognize the principle of uti possidetis, meaning new states would have the same borders as their predecessor Spanish colonies. Thus the Republic of Chile included all lands formerly belonging to the Captaincy General of Chile, including claims over portions of Antarctica, according to Chilean historians.

In 1815, the Argentine-Irish Admiral William Brown launched a campaign to harass the Spanish fleet in the Pacific Ocean and, when passing Cape Horn with the Argentine vessels Hércules and Trinidad, his ships were driven down into the Antarctic Sea beyond 65° south latitude. Brown's report indicated the presence of nearby land, though he did not see any portion of the continent and no landings were made.

On August 25, 1818, the government of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, granted the first concessions for hunting earless seals and penguins in Antarctica to Juan Pedro de Aguirre, who operated the ship Espíritu Santo based on Deception Island. Espíritu Santo was joined by the American brig Hercilia. The fact that the Argentine sealers were able to sail directly to the island can be regarded as evidence that its location was already known.

Between 1819 and 1821, the Russian ships Vostok and Mirny, under the command of the German Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in Russian service, explored Antarctic waters, as already noted. In 1821, at 69°W 53'S, he sighted an island which he called Alexander I Land, after the Russian Tsar. Although von Bellingshausen circumnavigated the continent twice, no member of his crew ever set foot on Antarctica.

In 1819, the British mariner William Smith rediscovered the South Shetland Islands, including King George Island. The American Nathaniel Palmer spotted the Antarctic Peninsula that same year. Neither of them went ashore on the actual continental landmass. However, in 1821, Connecticut seal hunter John Davis reported setting foot on a southern land that he believed was a continent.

In 1823, James Weddell claimed to have discovered the sea that now bears his name, lying inside the Antarctic Circle to the east of the Antarctic peninsula. The hunting of baleen whales and South American sea lions began to increase in the following years. In 1831, Chile's liberator Bernardo O'Higgins wrote to the Royal Navy, saying:

Old and new Chile extends, on the Pacific from the Mejillones Bay to New South Shetland, in latitude 65° South and on the Atlantic from San Jose Peninsula at latitude 42° to New South Shetland, that means, 23° with a glut of excellent ports on both oceans and all of them wholesome in all seasons. A simple glance at the map of South America is sufficient to prove that Chile, as is described, holds the keys of that vast portion of the South Atlantic

In 1843, a Chilean expedition founded Fuerte Bulnes, taking possession of the Strait of Magellan, just days before British and French ships arrived with the same objective. Years later Chile founded the city of Punta Arenas in 1848.

In 1856, a treaty of friendship between Chile and Argentina recognized boundaries and was enacted uti possidetis juris. The growth of Chilean settlements in the Magallanes Region and especially the city of Punta Arenas allowed the founding of companies for the hunting and exploitation of whales in the Antarctic seas, which required authorization from the Chilean government.

President Jorge Montt enacted Fishing Ordinance No. 1,623 on August 17, 1892, which sought to control illegal fishing of seals, sea lions, otters, and other species, being the first document that sought to regulate the extraction of natural resources on Antarctica. As a form of indirect control, leases and concessions were granted for the islands located south of Cape Horn. Some of the businessmen who applied for them were: Pedro Pablo Benavides, Lujes Koenigswerther, José Pasinovich, Domingo Toro Herrera, and Enrique Fabry. The Decree No. 1,642, prohibited hunting and fishing for one year. Subsequently, on August 19, 1893, and before the ban ended, the government, with the approval of the Council of State, extended by Decree No. 83, for four years, the hunting and fishing of seals, sea lions, otters, and chungungos in the area. In 1894, control over the exploitation of marine resources south of latitude 54 degrees south was given to the Punta Arenas Municipality.

In 1895 and 1896, the Chilean Navy started studies in the Antarctic continent since they received communications from captains of whaling and merchant ships from the Antarctic seas. Otto Nordenskjöld shared with the Chilean Scientific Society and its president, Federico Puga Borne, the idea of traveling to the South Shetland Islands in the summer of 1896–1897; however, these plans did not come to fruition.

20th century

In the early years of the 20th century, interest in the Antarctic territories increased. Some expeditions to Antarctica asked permission from the government of Chile, among these being those of Otto Nordenskjöld in 1902 and of Robert F. Scott in 1900. Chile also granted mining permits, such as that conferred on 31 December 1902 by Decree No. 3310 allowing Pedro Pablo Benavides to lease the Diego Ramírez Islands and San Ildefonso.

Starting from 1903, Chilean whalers visited Deception Island, led by the Norwegian captain Adolf Amandus Andresen under the Chilean flag.

By supreme decree, the Government of Chile approved in 1906 the statutes of the Magellan Whaling Company, organized by Captain Andresen and Pedro A. de Bruyne, which since the previous year had been carrying out its operations in Whalers Bay of Deception with the factory ship Gobernador Bories. Other whaling companies followed, with several hundred men residing in Deception during the Antarctic summers.

In 1906, several decrees were promulgated, including some from the National Congress of Chile, offering mining permits in the Antarctic area. In that same year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile mentioned on September 18 that the delimitation of Chilean Antarctic territory would be the subject of a preliminary investigation. Also, President Germán Riesco created an Antarctic Commission dependent from that ministry, with the aim of organizing the first Chilean Antarctic Expedition and building a weather station to strengthen sovereignty in these territories through an effective presence, however the 1906 Valparaíso earthquake made it impossible for the project to receive funding. On 10 June 1907, Argentina formally protested and asked for mutual recognition of Antarctic territories. There was work on a treaty to more concretely define territories in the region, but it was never signed.

On 8 May 1906, the Whaling Society of Magallanes was created with a base in Punta Arenas, organized by Captain Andresen and Pedro A. de Bruyne, which since the previous year had been carrying out its operations in Whalers Bay of Deception with the factory ship Gobernador Bories. Other whaling companies followed, such as the Corral Whaling Society and the Magallanes Fishing Company, with had several hundred men residing in Deception during the Antarctic summers and operated until World War I. On 1 December, the Magallanes society was authorized to expand its territory to the South Shetland Islands, as allowed by Decree No. 1314 of the governor of Magallanes. The group expanded to Whalers Bay on Deception Island, where they hoisted the Chilean flag and established a coaling station. This area was visited by Jean-Baptiste Charcot in December 1908 to replenish coal. The site was manned during the summer seasons until 1914.

In 1908, the British ship Telefon, which was carrying coal for the supply of whalers on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, ran aground on the reefs of Admiralty Bay (now known as Telefon Rocks) and was abandoned by its crew due to severe damage. Upon learning of the incident on Deception Island, several ships set sail for the site. Captain Andresen, aboard the Chilean whaler Almirante Valenzuela, arrived first, boarded the abandoned ship in a dangerous maneuver, raised the Chilean flag and claimed it according to maritime law. He towed it to Deception Island, beaching it in a cove (now Telefon Cove) for repairs. The following spring, the factory ship Gobernador Bories repaired it successfully, allowing the Telefon to sail again under the Chilean flag. The whaling society acquired the steamship Telefon that belonged to the Lloyds company in 1910, which had been put up for auction after the accident.

On 21 July 1908, however, the United Kingdom had officially claimed sovereignty over all lands between 20°W and 80°W and south of 50°S, including the Falkland Islands and South Georgia (although not, of course, the South American mainland). In 1917, the northern boundary of the claim was moved to 58°S, and in 1962 to the parallel 60°S.

The Charter of July 21, 1908, established that: "...the group of islands known as South Georgia, South Orkney, South Shetland, Sandwich Islands, and the territory known as Graham Land, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, south of the 50th parallel south latitude, between 20 and 80 degrees west longitude, are part of Our Dominion...", which led to diplomatic conflict with the United Kingdom. The Corral Whaling Company, created in 1910 with Chilean and Norwegian capital and, from 1915, solely by Adolfo Andresen, operated on the southern coast and in Antarctic waters, in the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands. It had bases of operations in Caleta San Carlos in Corral and on Deception Island.

In 1914, Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton began an expedition to cross the South Pole from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. With the ship Endurance he sailed into the Weddell Sea, but the weather worsened dramatically and the Endurance was trapped for weeks and ultimately crushed by the ice. There followed an episode of bravery involving both Britain and Chile. Shackleton and his crew dragged three lifeboats over the frozen sea until they came to open water again, then sailed to the desolate Elephant Island at the very northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. Shackleton and a picked crew then sailed one boat to South Georgia Island where help was obtained. However, three attempts to reach the rest of the expedition on Elephant Island were turned back by pack ice. Finally, in Punta Arenas, Shackleton obtained the help of the Chilean navy tugboat Yelcho, captained by Luis Pardo Villalón, which managed to rescue the remaining survivors. On 4 September 1916, they were received at the port of Punta Arenas as heroes. Captain Pardo's feat, sailing with temperatures close to −30 °C (−22 °F) and a stormy sea of icebergs, won him national and international recognition.