The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A 2006 satellite composite image of Antarctica
Disposal of waste by simply dumping it at the shoreline, as pictured at the Russian Bellingshausen Station on King George Island in 1992, is no longer permitted by the Protocol on Environmental Protection
This 1959 cover commemorated the opening of the Wilkes post office in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Composite satellite image of Antarctica (2002)
Vinson Massif from the northwest, the highest peak in Antarctica
Glossopteris sp. leaf from the Permian of Antarctica
Blue ice covering Lake Fryxell, in the Transantarctic Mountains