Is it possible for your nationality to be Antartican?

Answer 1

The twelve signatory nations of the Antarctic Treaty concluded it at Washington, D.C. on December 1, 1959, becoming the "consultative nations" to it. By April 2010, an additional sixteen nations "achieved consultative status". Twenty other nations have "acceded" to the treaty, according them the right and power to attend consultative meetings between consultative nations over Antarctica as observers.

Two clauses from the preamble to the Treaty are instructive:

"The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America,

Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord;

Acknowledging the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica;

Convinced that the establishment of a firm foundation for the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical Year accords with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind;

Convinced also that a treaty ensuring the use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of international harmony in Antarctica will further the purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations;"

These both imply that Antarctica is under international administration, as opposed to being a sovereign territory unto itself.

However, in its Article IV, the Treaty does speak to the extent and nature of territorial claims to Antarctica:

"1. Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall be interpreted as:

(a) a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica;

(b) a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting Party of any basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica which it may have whether as a result of its activities or those of its nationals in Antarctica, or otherwise;

(c) prejudicing the position of any Contracting Party as regards its recognition or nonrecognition of any other State's right of or claim or basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica.

2. No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force."

Article IV recognizes the existence, but not necessarily a mutual acceptance of their validity, of antecedent "claims to territorial sovereignty" among the signatory-consultative nations. It also preserves the entirety of those claims as to each nation's sovereign claims. Finally, it denies the status of waiver as accruing to any acts or activities countenanced under by the Treaty.

Article VIII cognizes and recognizes the jurisdictions of the signatory-consultative nations:

"1. In order to facilitate the exercise of their functions under the present Treaty, and without prejudice to the respective positions of the Contracting Parties relating to jurisdiction over all other persons in Antarctica, observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and scientific personnel exchanged under subparagraph 1(b) of Article III of the Treaty, and members of the staffs accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are nationals in respect to all acts or omissions occurring while they are in Antarctica for the purpose of exercising their functions.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in pursuance of subparagraph 1(e) of Article IX, the Contracting Parties concerned in any case of dispute with regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall immediately consult together with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution."

By implication, Article VIII recognizes no intrinsic nationality accruing to persons born in, or residing in, Antarctica. Instead, it refers to nationality as deriving from the nation that is a "Contracting Party" remaining a legal quality which accrues to persons born in, or who are, resident in Antarctica.

Those nations retain all aspects of territorial sovereignty except as to military activities (Article I) and specifically as to detonations of nuclear devices or associated activities (Article V). Further, the Treaty could be said to derogate sovereignty from the consultative nations to the extent it requires formal international cooperation prospectively (Article III); free mutual access for observation and inspection to the sovereign territory and territorial airspace of all claimant nations (Article VII); and, a dispute-settlement mechanism among the consultative nations (Article XI).

Thus, the jus soli of the territorial claimant nations extends to those born within the geographic boundaries of the sovereign territorial claims. That is, if you are born within the boundaries of the New Zealand sector, you are a national of New Zealand, etc.

Alternatively, you might accrue nationality through the jus sanguinis. That is, if you are born to parents of a particular nationality, even if not within the territorial boundaries of that nation, you might accrue that citizenship according to relevant law. This would certainly apply to births occurring within the unclaimed territory of Antarctica.

Only a few thousand people, mostly scientists, reside in Antarctica, and an even smaller number of them "winter over" the continent's exceedingly severe winter. However, the operation of both the Antarctic Treaty and the laws of individual claimant nations seem clear as to the law of nationality accruing to those persons born in, or resident in, Antarctica. That is, that there is no independent sovereignty accruing to an "Antarctic nation", thus there is no independent "Antarctic nationality".

Answer 2

As of now, there is no recognized nationality specific to Antarctica. The continent is designated as a scientific preserve with various countries maintaining research stations there. Individuals living and working in Antarctica usually maintain their original nationality.