Abstract
By an Order in Council dated February 7 and published in the London Gazette of February 14, a sector of the antarctic comprising an extent of one hundred and fifteen degrees of longitude and covering more than a quarter of the antarctic continent has been placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Times reports the order as stating that “that part of the territory in Antarctic Seas which comprises all the islands and territories other than Adelie Land situated south of the 60th degree of South Latitude and lying between 160° E. and 45° E. is territory over which His Majesty has sovereign rights”. The order comes into force when the necessary legislation has been passed by the Commonwealth Parliament. Ad©lie Land was claimed by France in 1924 but its boundaries were not defined. The new territory adjoins the Ross Dependency of New Zealand on the east and extends from Oates Land through King George, Wilkes, Banzare, Knox, Queen Mary, Wilhelm, and Mac-Robertson Lands to Enderby Land, beyond which Norwegian discoveries link it to Coats Land. The coasts of most of the territory were discovered by British, including Australian, and American explorers. The glaciated interior is unknown. No one name is in use for the whole of the area. The only commercial value of the coasts is for whaling.
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British Claims in the Antarctic. Nature 131, 270 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131270a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131270a0