Queen Maud Land Totally Explained

Everything about Queen Maud Land totally explained

Queen Maud Land is an English translation of Dronning Maud Land, the official name in use by Norwegian authorities and British Antarctic Survey on the part of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory, on January 14, 1939. This claim, like all others in the Antarctic, isn't universally recognized and is subject to the terms of the Antarctic Treaty System. It has a land area of approximately 2.5 million square kilometers (one million sq mi), mostly covered by the Antarctic ice sheet lying between the British claim, at 20°W and the Australian claim, at 44°38'E. Norway hasn't officially elaborated as to the northernly and southernly extent of their claim. This explains why the Norwegian claim is illustrated differently from other claims on some maps of Antarctica. It is however generally assumed that the Norwegian claim follows the norms of the other Antarctic claims. The Norwegian claim has been officially recognised by Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Regions

Queen Maud Land is divided into five coastal regions which can be thought of extending as sectors to the South Pole, from west to east (clockwise)(External Link

No.	Region	Area		Western Border	Eastern Border
No.	Region	km²	sq mi	Western Border	Eastern Border
1	Kronprinsesse Märtha Kyst		020°00' W	005°00' E
2	Prinsesse Astrid Kyst		005°00' E	020°00' E
3	Prinsesse Ragnhild Kyst		020°00' E	034°00' E
4	Prins Harald Kyst		034°00' E	040°00' E
5	Prins Olav Kyst		040°00' E	044°38' E
6	Haakon VII's Vidde	The Polar Plateau is considered a sixth region. With an undefined northern border (approx. 80°S) its area is contained in sectors 1 through 5
	Dronning Maud Land		020°00' W	044°38' E

The area was first visited in 1930 by Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen as part of efforts to map the Antarctic. Roald Amundsen had previously named it in honour of Queen Maud of Norway and the entire plateau surrounding the South Pole Haakon VII's Vidde in honour of King Haakon VII of Norway. The area originally identified by Amundsen as Queen Maud Land lay between 37° and 50° E.

Research stations

Norway operates two research stations in Antarctica, both in Queen Maud Land:

Troll,
Tor (summer station),

Research Stations of other nations include:

SANAE IV "Vesles" (South Africa), Princess Martha Coast

Sarie Marais (South Africa), Princess Martha Coast

Novolazarevskaya Station (Russia), Princess Astrid Coast

Showa Station (Japan), Prince Harald Coast

Dome Fuji Station (Japan), Prince Harald Coast

Mizuho Station (Japan), Prince Olav Coast

Neumayer Station, Princess Martha Coast

Kohnen (German summer station), Princess Martha Coast (interior)

SANAE E (South African summer station), Princess Martha Coast

Svea Station (Swedish summer station) 1987/1988, Princess Astrid Coast

Nordenskiöld Base, Princess Astrid Coast

Wasa Station (Swedish summer station)
Aboa Station (Finnish summer station)

Asuka Station (Japanese unmanned station) Princess Ragnhild Coast

Station	type	Nation	year established	Region	Area	Coordinates	Elevation	km from coast
SANAE IV "Vesles"	year- round	South Africa	1994	Princess Martha Coast	Vesleskarvet		.	10
Neumayer Station	year- round	Germany	1992	Princess Martha Coast	Atka Bay		.	8

Chronology

1832	John Biscoe's expedition claims to sight Graham Land, although one source states it was Anvers Island.
1893	Carl Anton Larsen discovers and names Graham Land's Foyn Coast; also King Oscar Land, Mount Jason and Robertson Island.
1895-01-24	Carsten Borchgrevink makes what is claimed to be the first landing on Antarctica. Three years later he leads the first party to winter on the continent.
1911-12-14	Five Norwegians, led by Roald Amundsen, are the first to reach the South Pole.
1930	Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen flies over the area previously named Dronning Maud Land (Queen Maud Land) by Roald Amundsen.
1938-01-14	Dronning Maud Land, identified as the area lying from 45° to 20°E, is formally claimed by Norway.
1939-01-19 –1945-05-23	The area 20°E to 10°W is claimed by Nazi Germany as "German New Swabia" (Deutsch Neuschwabenland).
1941-01-13	German commandos board and capture two Norwegian factory ships in the sea north of Queen Maud Land. By the end of the next day, the Germans had taken possession of three factory ships and eleven catchers. The German Navy subsequently uses a harbor on Kerguelen Island as a base from which to attack Allied shipping.
1948	The Norwegian Polar Institute, as part of the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, is assigned the administration of Dronning Maud Land.
1957	In Norway, Dronning Maud Land becomes subject to Norwegian sovereignty as a dependency.
1961-06-23	Antarctic Treaty officially entered into force.
2005	Queen Sonja of Norway officially opened the research station Troll as an allyear station.
2008	Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg visits Dronning Maud Land and personally names three mountains.

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