The Antarctic Treaty is an international agreement that stipulates that the uninhabited Antarctic between 60 and 90 degrees south latitude is reserved exclusively for peaceful use, particularly for scientific research. The treaty was discussed by twelve signatory states at the 1959 Antarctic Conference in Washington and came into force in 1961. It is of great political significance because it was the first international treaty after the end of the Second World War to establish the principles of peaceful coexistence between states with different social systems.
The aims of the treaty are to preserve the ecological balance in the Antarctic, to use the Antarctic for peaceful purposes, to promote international co-operation and to support scientific research. Military exercises and operations are therefore prohibited, as is the extraction of natural resources.
The contracting states in the Antarctic system are divided into consultative states and normal contracting states. To become a Consultative State, a state must carry out significant scientific research and establish a scientific station in Antarctica or send a scientific expedition. A Consultative State is entitled to vote at the Consultative Meetings.
The twelve states that signed the Antarctic Treaty around 60 years ago are Consultative States. These are: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Great Britain, New Zealand and Norway (all of which have territorial claims in Antarctica), as well as Belgium, Japan, the Soviet Union (now Russia), South Africa and the United States, which have no territorial claims in Antarctica.
Since 1961, a further 33 states have signed this treaty. 16 of these later became Consultative States, but without any prospect of territorial claims. In addition to the twelve signatory states, the consultative states today include Poland (state party since 1961/consultative state since 1977), Germany (1979[5]/1981), Brazil (1975/1983), India (1983/1983), the People’s Republic of China (1983/1985), Uruguay (1980/1985), Italy (1981/1987), Sweden (1984/1988), Spain (1982/1988), Finland (1984/1989), Peru (1981/1989), South Korea (1986/1989), Ecuador (1987/1990), the Netherlands (1967/1990), Bulgaria (1978/1998), Ukraine (1992/2004) and the Czech Republic (1993/2014). The German Democratic Republic also signed the treaty in 1974 and became a consultative state in 1987.
The contracting states that have joined since 1961 are Czechoslovakia (1962-1992), Denmark (1965), Romania (1971), Papua New Guinea (1981), Hungary (1984), Cuba (1984), Greece (1987), North Korea (1987), Austria (1987), Canada (1988), Colombia (1989), Switzerland (1990), Guatemala (1991), Slovakia (1993), Turkey (1996), Venezuela (1999), Estonia (2001), Belarus (2006), Monaco (2008), Portugal (2010), Malaysia (2011), Pakistan (2012), Kazakhstan (2015), Mongolia (2015), Iceland (2015) and Slovenia (2019).
Quelle: Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarktis-Vertrag)