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The Australian Antarctic
Territory (AAT) is the part of Antarctica claimed by Australia and is the
largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation. It consists of all
the islands and territory south of 60° S and between 44°38' E and 160° E,
except for Adélie Land (136°11' E to 142°02' E), which divides the
territory into Western AAT (the larger portion) and Eastern AAT. It is
bounded by Queen Maud Land in the West and by Ross Dependency in the East.
The area is estimated at 6,119,818 km². The territory is only inhabited by
the staff of research stations. The main station is Mawson Station. The
Australian Government Antarctic Division administers the area primarily by
supporting various research projects.
The territory is divided into nine districts, which are from West to East:
| No. |
District |
Area (km²) |
Western Border |
Eastern Border |
| 1 |
Enderby Land |
|
044°38' E |
056°25' E |
| 2 |
Kemp Land |
|
056°25' E |
059°34' E |
| 3 |
Mac Robertson Land |
|
059°34' E |
072°35' E |
| 4 |
Princess Elizabeth Land |
|
072°35' E |
087°43' E |
| 5 |
Wilhelm II Land |
|
087°43' E |
091°54' E |
| 6 |
Queen Mary Land |
|
091°54' E |
100°30' E |
| 7 |
Wilkes Land |
2,600,000 |
100°30' E |
136°11' E |
| 8 |
George V Land |
|
142°02' E |
153°45' E |
| 9 |
Oates Land |
|
153°45' E |
160°00' E |
| |
Australian Antarctic Territory |
6,119,818 |
044°38' E |
160°00' E |
Victoria Land was first claimed for Britain on 9 January 1841 and Britain
claimed Enderby Land in 1930. In 1933, a British imperial order
transferred territory south of 60° S and between meridians 160 W and 45 W
to Australia. The borders with Adélie Land were fixed definitively in
1938. In 1947, Britain transferred Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and
Macquarie Island to the territory. On 13 February 1954[1], Mawson Station
was established as the first Australian station on the continent proper.
As Australia is part of the Antarctic Treaty System, under its provisions
it makes no effort to assert true national sovereignty over its claimed
Antarctic territory.
Australia issues postage stamps for the Australian Antarctic Territory.
The first issues came in 1957, and sporadically thereafter, settling into
a pattern of an annual issue by the 1990s. All have been Antarctic-themed,
and all are valid for postage in Australia, so in practice they are just
Australian stamps with a different inscription. |
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