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There is a pie-slice of Antarctica that is unclaimed under the Antarctic Treaty System. Some guy in LA has claimed it as Westarctica[1], which is a pretty good
by paulsutter 6y ago
There is a pie-slice of Antarctica that is unclaimed under the Antarctic Treaty System. Some guy in LA has claimed it as Westarctica[1], which is a pretty good name. You could probably go down there with a pistol and claim it yourself. Dress warmly. Would rank in the top 20 countries in square km (1.6M square km)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westarctica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westarctica
- asperous 6y agoUnder the Anartic treaty, most countries won't recognize new claims and new activity won't effect claims: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System
- widforss 6y agoThis is a gross misrepresentation of the Antarctic treaty. The treaty effectively removed the relevance of any claim from any entity.
- paulsutter 6y agoI was obviously kidding about claiming it with a pistol
- widforss 6y agoI was rather referring to the part about "unclaimed pie-slice". That's not part of the Antarctic Treaty; it predates it and is made irrelevant by it.
- paulsutter 6y agoNobody recognizes even the claimed pie slices (except the 7 claiming countries), just as none of the parties would recognize any claim on Marie Byrd Land (aka Westarctica). It still remains a fact that no country claims that territory. And that's interesting in some abstract way to people with the fantasy of forming a country. Which is exactly what the parent comment was referring to. The whole thing is just meant in fun. Aside from the fact that the treaty binds only the signatories.