„Antártida Argentina”

Argentina – as one of the closest country to the White Continent – always paid great attention to the south polar issues, since the Republic declared its independence from Spain in 1816. The irreconcilable dispute, which began in 1833 between Argentina and Great Britain about the sovereignty rights over the Falkland Islands is the starting point of the international debates in the far South Atlantic region, but the overlapping claims of the above-named countries in Antarctica – inclusive also Chile – is a lesser-known segment of this topic. As an introduction, an attempt to present the Argentine Antarctic policy will be followed from the second decade of the 19th century to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, in particular with regard to the Argentine activities, which led to the official announcement of the Argentine territorial claim under the name Antártida Argentina (Argentine Antarctica) in 1942/1943.