Misc
Slices of the Pie: Mapping Territorial Claims in Antarctica
View the full-size version of this infographic.
Slices of the Pie: Mapping Territorial Claims in Antarctica
For the 55% of the world’s population who reside in cities, land is viewed as a precious commodity—every square foot has a value attached to it. As the global population continues to rise toward the eight billion mark, it can seem like humans have laid claim to every available corner of the earth.
While this is mostly true, there is one place on the planet that is vast, empty, and even partially unclaimed: Antarctica.
Today’s map, originally created by the CIA World Factbook, visualizes the active claims on Antarctic territory, as well as the location of many permanent research facilities.
The History of Antarctic Territorial Claims
In the first half of the 20th Century, a number of countries began to claim wedge-shaped portions of territory on the southernmost continent. Even Nazi Germany was in on the action, claiming a large swath of land which they dubbed New Swabia.
After WWII, the Antarctic Treaty system—which established the legal framework for the management of the continent—began to take shape. In the 1950s, seven countries including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom claimed territorial sovereignty over portions of Antarctica. A number of other nations, including the U.S. and Japan, were engaged in exploration but hadn’t put forward claims in an official capacity.
| Territorial claims in Antarctica | Territory name | Area of claim |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Australia | Australian Antarctic Territory | 3,663,915 mi² (5,896,500 km²) |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | Queen Maud Land | 1,677,702 mi² (2,700,000 km²) |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | British Antarctic Territory | 1,062,171 mi² (1,709,400 km²) |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | Argentine Antarctica | 908,194 mi² (1,461,597 km²) |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | Chilean Antarctic Territory | 776,874 mi² (1,250,258 km²) |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | Ross Dependency | 279,617 mi² (450,000 km²) |
| 🇫🇷 France | Adélie Land | 268,432 mi² (432,000 km²) |
Despite the remoteness and inhospitable climate of Antarctica, the idea of claiming such large areas of landmass has proven appealing to countries. Even the smallest claim on the continent is equivalent to the size of Iraq.
A few of the above claims overlap, as is the case on the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out geographically from the rest of the continent. This area is less remote with a milder climate, and is subject to claims by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom (which governs the nearby Falkland Islands).
Interestingly, there is still a large portion of Antarctica that remains unclaimed today. Just east of the Ross Ice Shelf lies Marie Byrd Land, a vast, remote territory that is by far the largest unclaimed land area on Earth.
While Antarctica has no official government, it is administered through yearly meetings known as the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. These meetings involve a number of stakeholders, from member nations to observer organizations.
Frontage Theory: Another Way to Slice it
Of course, critics could argue that current claims are arbitrary, and that there is a more equitable way to partition land in Antarctica. That’s where Frontage Theory comes in.
Originally proposed by Brazilian geopolitical scholar Therezinha de Castro, the theory argues that sectors of the Antarctic continent should be distributed according to meridians (the imaginary lines running north–south around the earth). Wherever straight lines running north hit landfall, that country would have sovereignty over the corresponding “wedge” of Antarctic territory.
The map below shows roughly how territorial claims would look under that scenario.
While Brazil has obvious reasons for favoring this solution, it’s also a thought experiment that produces an interesting mix of territorial claims. Not only do nearby countries in Africa and South America get a piece of the pie, but places like Canada and Greenland would end up with territory adjacent to both of the planet’s poles.
Leaving the Pie Unsliced
Thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, there is no mining taking place in Antarctica, and thus far no country has set up a permanent settlement on the continent. Aside from scattered research stations and a few thousand researchers, claims in the region have a limited impact.
For the near future at least, the slicing of the Antarctic pie is only hypothetical.
Markets
Mapping The Biggest Companies By Market Cap in 60 Countries
Tech, finance or energy giant? We mapped the biggest companies by market cap and industry.
Misc
All World Languages in One Visualization
See the world’s major languages broken down by country in this stunning visualization.
All World Languages, By Native Speakers
View a high resolution version of today’s graphic by clicking here.
Languages provide a window into culture and history. They’re also a unique way to map the world – not through landmasses or geopolitical borders, but through mother tongues.
The Tower of Babel
Today’s infographic from Alberto Lucas Lopez condenses the 7,102 known living languages today into a stunning visualization, with individual colors representing each world region.
Only 23 languages are spoken by at least 50 million native speakers. What’s more, over half the planet speaks at least one of these 23 languages.
Chinese dominates as a macrolanguage, but it’s important to note that it consists of numerous languages. Mandarin, Yue (including Cantonese), Min, Wu, and Hakka cover over 200 individual dialects, which vary further by geographic location.
| Country | Native Chinese speakers (millions) |
|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | 1,152.0 |
| 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 21.8 |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR | 6.5 |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 5.1 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | 1.8 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | 1.2 |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 0.9 |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | 0.7 |
| 🇲🇲 Myanmar | 0.5 |
| 🇲🇴 Macau SAR | 0.5 |
| Other | 6.0 |
| Total | 1,197 million |
Chinese is one of the most challenging languages for English speakers to pick up, in part due its completely unfamiliar scripts. You’d have to know at least 3,000 characters to be able to read a newspaper, a far cry from memorizing the A-Z alphabet.
Spanglish Takes Over
After Chinese, the languages of Spanish and English sit in second and third place in terms of global popularity. The rapid proliferation of these languages can be traced back to the history of Spanish conquistadors in the Americas, and British colonies around the world.
Animation: Map of Colonization (1492 – 2008):
Today, Spanish has 399 million native speakers, but these are mostly concentrated in Latin America. English has 335 million native speakers under its belt, with a widespread reach all over the globe.
Two Worlds, One Family
While the visualization makes all the world languages seem disparate, this linguistic family tree shows how they grew from a common root. It also explains how languages can evolve and branch out over time.
Created by Minna Sundberg. Full version.
This linguistic tree also includes many languages that are not on the large visualization of 23 mother tongues. Some of them might be considered endangered or at risk today, such as Catalan or Welsh. However, with globalization, a few interesting linguistic trends are arising.
1. Language revival
Certain enclaves of marginalized languages are being preserved out of pride for the traditional and cultural histories attached.
While Catalan was once banned, its rebirth is a key marker of identity in Barcelona. More than 150 universities teach Catalan worldwide. In the case of Welsh, a mammoth university project plans to make sure it does not die out. Researchers are compiling ten million Welsh words to preserve the past, present, and future of the language.
2. Language forecast
At this point in time, English is the lingua franca – adopted as a common language among speakers with different mother tongues. However, this status might soon be fuzzier as demographic trends continue.
The rise of China is an obvious one to consider. As China continues to increase its economic might and influence, its languages will proliferate as well.
At the same time, 26 African countries are projected to double their current size, many of which speak French as a first language. One study by investment bank Natixis suggests that Africa’s growth may well bring French to the forefront – making it the most-spoken language by 2050.
Could French provide a certain je ne sais quoi that no other world language can quite replace?
This post was first published in 2018. We have since updated it, adding in new content for 2021.
-
Green2 weeks agoThe World’s 25 Largest Lakes, Side by Side
-
Science3 weeks agoComparing the Size of The World’s Rockets, Past and Present
-
Misc4 weeks agoEvery Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic
-
Misc1 week agoAll World Languages in One Visualization
-
Economy7 days agoThe 20 Fastest Growing Jobs in the Next Decade
-
Technology4 weeks agoWhich Companies Belong to the Elite Trillion-Dollar Club?
-
Misc2 weeks agoRazor Thin: A New Perspective on Earth’s Atmosphere
-
Misc3 weeks agoVisualizing the Highest-Paid Athletes in 2021