Committee: Partition of Antarctica

Country: Norway
Since first being sighted during a Russian voyage in 1820, Antarctica has remained
completely free of civilian settlements for over a century due to its bleak and unforgiving
climate.1At the time of its discovery, 98% of the continent was covered by thick continental ice
sheets.2 Not much has changed since, and with temperatures recorded as low as -130 degrees
Fahrenheit, winds of up to 200 miles per hour, and average precipitation of only 6.5 inches per
year, Antarctica remains the harshest continent on the planet in 20503. The main points of the
Antarctic Treaty are as follows: the treaty neither recognizes, establishes, nor rejects any claims
made by nations; no new claims will be made while the treaty is in effect; Antarctica is to be
used for peaceful purposes only; any and all military activity - from military bases and
maneuvers to weapons testing - is prohibited4. In the instance of the rapid melting of ice in the
polar regions of the warming planet, division of Antarctica will come into the question. For this
reason, Norway would like to assess its claim over the rightful areas of Antarctica in which they
have been researching and would be beneficial to them in commerce and colonialism.
Norway made its initial claim in 1929 by claiming Bouvet Island, but no continental
claim was made until 1939, when it learned of Germany's plans to claim the same area, and

1 CIA World Factbook, CIA

2 CIA World Factbook, CIA
3 AFTERMATH OF THE RISE OF SEA LEVELS, People and Places
4 ATS - The Antarctic Treaty, ATS

officially claimed the area a few days before the German claim was made.5 Its claim is
recognized by the United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, and Australia. While initially
reluctant to make a claim on Antarctica, it nonetheless considers its claim as legitimate and the
claimed land as Norwegian. Norway remains separated from the European Union, one of the few
European nations that have continued to voluntarily remain outside the transnational
organization. Its lack of EU membership however has not significantly impaired the
government's activities, and the nation's extensive social safety net continues to ensure one of the
highest quality of life standards in the world for every Norwegian citizen, to great popular
support.6 Norwegian fishermen and whalers have recently increased pressure on the government
to allow fishing and whaling activities in the rich waters surrounding the Antarctic. The
involvement of Norwegian fishermen in fish stock management is a very indirect one.7 Together
with government officials, they are represented in an advisory committee making proposals
about catch quotas and their allocation, and other management measures.8 To judge from the
record, the fishermen's role in this process has not been overly constructive; most often their
representatives have pressed for larger catch quotas than proposed by the officials and their
experts. Sometimes the fishermen have had a point; the officials' proposals are usually devoid of
any economic content and based on purely biological criteria.9 The impact is that fisherman have
a huge role in the policies of the Norwegian government and because fishing is an important
5 Claiming Territorial rights in the Antarctic, Domaas
6 CIA World Factbook, CIA
7 Fishermens Organizations and Their Role in Fisheries Management, Hanneson
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.

industry, Norway is trying to receive offshore parts of Antarctica. Furthermore, the additional
economic activity by these such practices would add to Norways primary exports of petroleum
and natural gas. Most of the speculation about petroleum comes from finding petroleum on the
other Southern continents which were at one time connected together.10 The petroleum deposits
thought to be on the offshore regions of Antarctica would probably be most feasible to
obtain.11For this reason, Norway would like to request offshore parts of Antarctica an example
being Peter Island, a current territory of Norway. In conclusion, because of the current claim
Norway possesses to Antarctica and the future in the resources of Antarctica that would
tremendously improve Norways economy, Norway would like the offshore parts of Antarctica.

10 Natural Resources in Antarctica, Weeg

11 Ibid.

Works Cited
"ATS - The Antarctic Treaty." ATS - The Antarctic Treaty. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.ats.aq/e/ats.htm>.
Domass. Critical Review for ANTA 602. Claiming territorial rights in the Antarctic. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz/documents/PCAS_14/LiteratureReviews/Domaas
%20territorial%20rights.pdf>.
Hanneson. "FISHERMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR ROLE IN FISHERIES
MANAGEMENT: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND EXPERIENCES FROM
INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES."Studies on the role of fishermen's organizations in
fisheries management. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/T0049E/T0049E01.htm>.
"People and Places." : AFTERMATH OF THE RISE OF SEA LEVELS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct.
2014. <http://peopleus.blogspot.com/2013/05/aftermath-of-rise-of-sea-levels.html>.
Weeg. "Natural Resources in Antarctica."Natural Resources in Antarctica. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
Oct. 2014. http://www.globalclassroom.org/antarct3.html.
"The World Factbook." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 8
Oct. 2014. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/>.