Can You Start A Country In Antarctica?

Signup for your FREE trial to The Great Courses Plus here: http://ow.ly/LiTA30prDWy

Check out AlternateHistoryHub's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKNv0zWENlc
Subscribe to AlternateHistoryHub: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClfEht64_NrzHf8Y0slKEjw

Mr. Beat tries to start a country in Antarctica. Wait a second...CAN he do that?

Have an idea for a video Mr. Beat should do? Your idea gets picked when you donate on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/iammrbeat
Donate on Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/mrbeat
Buy Mr. Beat T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.: https://sfsf.shop/support-mrbeat/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mrbeat/
Mr. Beat's band: http://electricneedleroom.net/
Mr. Beat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/beatmastermatt
Mr. Beat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iammrbeat/
Mr. Beat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammrbeat/
Mr. Beat's Discord server: https://discord.gg/waK44fH

Produced by Matt Beat. All images by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by Electric Needle Room (Mr. Beat's band). #antarctica #geography #socialstudies

Sources/further reading:
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/people-in-antarctica/who-owns-antarctica
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/multimedia/fall11/antarctica-US.html
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/first-landing-antarctica
https://www.wired.com/2010/05/polar-race-gallery/
https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/race-south-pole-1911
https://www.ukaht.org/learn/the-mechanical-age/
https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/can_you_live_in_antarctica.php
https://www.grunge.com/94688/secrets-living-antarctica/
https://www.thelostgirlsguide.com/destinations/antarctica/5-types-people-visit-antarctica
https://ehne.fr/en/article/europe-europeans-and-world/colonial-expansion-and-imperialisms/antarctica-european-invention
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_claims_in_Antarctica?scrlybrkr=519786bb
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/a-few-unclaimed-lands-still-there-for-the-taking

Photo credits/fair use:
Antarctic96
Government of Argentina
Daniel Leussler
Kuno Lechner
UnturnedFighter

Antarctica? Yes, that frozen continent at the bottom of the globe. It’s the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, and brightest of all the continents. And it’s probably bigger than most folks realize, about the size of the United States and Mexico combined, bigger than Europe, and almost twice the size of Australia. 90% of all ice on Earth is in a giant ice sheet on Antarctica. We’re talking millions of years of snowfall piled up, most which has never melted. This ice is up to three miles high, and would raise sea levels worldwide by more than 200 feet if it ever melted.

So anyway, why would I, let alone anyone, want a country in a frozen wasteland? Well, for almost all of human history, no one did. The first documented discovery of the continent by humans was in 1820, when a Russian expedition spotted it. The Russians were like, the heck with this place, and for most of the rest of the century no one dared set foot there since it is such a hostile environment. Not only is it so cold there, it is isolated, surrounded by sea ice, and those seas are also very rough. Finally, on January 24, 1895, a team of Norwegians and one New Zealander were able to land on Antarctica.

Several others would soon follow. During what’s known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration of the late 1800s/early 1900s, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France, Japan, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand all led expeditions on the continent. They were brutal. 22 men died in total on these expeditions.

In 1911, Norway’s Roald Amundsen and Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott literally were in a race to be the first person to ever reach the South Pole. Amundsen got their first, and tragically Scott ended up dying on his way back after getting there second.

In 1928, Hubert Wilkins and Ben Eielson made the first successful flight to Antarctica. 7 years later, Lincoln Ellsworth and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon made the first successful flight across the entire continent. Meanwhile, by that time, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, and Germany had all claimed territory in Antarctica.

So you might be wondering….when did people actually start living there? Well, no one has ever lived there permanently. They are temporary residents, most just living a few months or maybe years at a time then returning to their home country. Actually, Argentina was the first to send settlers to be there for longer periods way back in 1904. It set up a small base on one of the South Orkney islands after purchasing a meteorological observatory, even though the United Kingdom had claimed that area. Argentina and Chile were both worried about those aforementioned European countries and later Australia claiming territory in Antarctica, and both set out to make as many claims as they could.

Видео Can You Start A Country In Antarctica? канала Mr. Beat