Antarctic Treaty in the context of Antarctic Treaty Secretariat

The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about 604 km (375 mi) north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and 844 km (524 mi) south-west of South Georgia Island. They have a total area of about 620 km (240 sq mi). The islands are claimed both by Britain (as part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962, previously as a Falkland Islands Dependency) and by Argentina (as part of Argentine Antarctica). Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, sovereignty claims are held in abeyance.

Britain and Argentina both maintain bases on the islands. The Argentine base, Orcadas, established in 1904, is sited on Laurie Island. The 11 buildings of the Argentine station house up to 45 people during the summer, and an average of 14 during winter. The British Antarctic Survey base, Signy Research Station, is located on Signy Island and was established in 1947. Initially operated year-round, since 1995–1996 the Signy Research Station has been open only from November to April each year.

The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole, overlapped by the Antarctic claims of Argentina (Argentine Antarctica) and Chile (Chilean Antarctic Territory). The claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961.

The territory was formed on 3 March 1962, although the UK's claim to this portion of the Antarctic dates back to letters patent of 1908 and 1917. The area now covered by the Territory includes three regions which, before 1962, were administered by the British as separate dependencies of the Falkland Islands: Graham Land, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands. The United Kingdom's claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961, Article 4 of which states "No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty, shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force." Most countries do not recognise territorial claims in Antarctica. The United Kingdom has ratified the Antarctic treaty.

The geography of Argentina is heavily diverse, consisting of the Andes Mountains, pampas, and various rivers and lakes. Bordered by the Andes in the west and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, its neighboring countries are Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast.

In terms of area, Argentina is the second largest country in South America after Brazil, and the eighth largest country in the world. Its total area is 2,780,400 km (1,073,500 mi). Argentina claims a section of Antarctica (Argentine Antarctica) that is subject to the Antarctic Treaty. Argentina also asserts claims to several British South Atlantic islands.

Brazilian Antarctica (Portuguese: Antártida Brasileira or Antártica Brasileira) is the Antarctic territory south of 60°S, and from 28°W to 53°W, tenuously proposed but unclaimed as a "zone of interest" by geopolitical scholar Therezinha de Castro. While the substance of that designation has never been precisely defined, it does not formally contradict the Argentine and British claims geographically overlapping with that zone (the zone shares a border but does not overlap with the Chilean Antarctic Territory to its west). The country formally expressed its reservations with respect to its territorial rights in Antarctica when it acceded to the Antarctic Treaty on 16 May 1975, making the first official mention of the Frontage Theory, which states (simplified) that sovereignty over each point in Antarctica properly (bar the South Pole itself) belongs to the first country whose non-Antarctic territory one would reach when travelling north in a straight line from such a point. The Frontage Theory (Teoria da Defrontação) was proposed by Brazilian geopolitical scholar Therezinha de Castro and published in her book Antártica: Teoria da Defrontação.

Outside the zone of interest, Brazil maintains a permanently staffed research facility, the Comandante Ferraz Brazilian Antarctic Base (UN/LOCODE: AQ-CFZ), located in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at 62°08′S 58°40′W / 62.133°S 58.667°W / -62.133; -58.667. The peninsula is the northernmost, most accessible, and warmest part of the Antarctic continent and a number of countries, therefore, have research bases located on it.