British Antarctic Territory
 

21 Jul 1908 - 30 May 1969

Adopted 30 May 1969 State Ensign

Adopted 21 Apr 1998 Civil Ensign

Map of British Antarctic Territory  Hear National Anthem  "God Save the Queen"  Text of National Anthem  Constitution Order (1 Jul 1989) Capital: None Chief Stations: Halley V, Rothera, Signy Currency: British Pound  (GBP)  National Holiday: 2nd Sat. in Jun (1926) Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II Population: Uninhabited Seasonal Research Staff Summer (Jan): 205 Winter (Jul): 37  (2007-2008)  Total Active Armed Forces: N/A Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K. Merchant marine: None (2008) Number of Year-round Stations: 2 Summer-only Stations: 1 (2007-2008) GDP: N/A International Organizations/Treaties: UPU British Antarctic Territory Chronology   16 Oct 1819                South Shetland Islands claimed for Britain.  6 Dec 1821                South Orkney Islands claimed for Britain, named                              Powell's Group (Feb 1822 renamed South Orkney                               Islands). 21 Feb 1832                Graham Land on Antarctica annexed for Britain.  21 Jul 1908                Graham Land, South Shetland Islands, and the                              South Orkney Islands officially annexed by                              Britain and made dependencies of the                               the Falkland Islands.  29 Jan 1944 - 1945         British dispatch a naval mission to Antarctica                             (Operation Tabarin) which established the first                              permanent British scientific bases.  3 Mar 1962                British Antarctic Territory (South Shetland                              Islands, South Orkney Islands, and Graham Land)                              made a separate dependency.

Commanders of the Tabarin Operations
(subordinated to the British Admiralty)
29 Jan 1944 - 1945         - Keith Allan John Pitt
                           - Victor Aloysius John Baptist
                               Marchesi 
                           - Robert Carl Sheppard (from 1944)
High Commissioners (non-resident; also governors of the Falkland Is.)
 3 Mar 1962 - 1964         Sir Edwin Porter Arrowsmith        (b. 1909 - d. 1992)
1964 - 1970                Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard (b. 1916)
                            (from 23 Oct 1964, Sir Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard)
1971 - 1975                Sir Ernest Gordon Lewis            (b. 1918 - d. 2006)
1975 - 1977                Sir Neville Arthur Irwin French    (b. 1920 - d. 1996)
1977 - 1980                Sir James Roland Walter Parker     (b. 1919 - d. 2009)
1980 - Sep 1985            Rex Masterman Hunt                 (b. 1926)
Sep 1985 - 1988            Gordon Wesley Jewkes               (b. 1931)
1988 - 1990                William H. Fullerton               (b. 1939)
Commissioners (in London; from 1998 also commissioners for British Indian Ocean Territory)
1989                       C.L. de Chassiron
Oct 1989 - 1991            M.S. Baker Bates
1991 - 1995                Peter M. Newton
1995 - 1997                Anthony "Tony" J. Longrigg         (b. 1944)
1997 - 2001                John White                         (b. 1946)
2001 - Jan 2004            Alan Edden Huckle                  (b. 1948)
Jan 2004 - Jul 2006        Tony Crombie                       (b. 1956)
Jul 2006 - Jul 2008        Robert Leigh Turner                (b. 1958)
Jul 2008 -                 Colin Roberts                      (b. 1959)

Administrators (non-resident; in London)
(heads of Polar Regions Section in Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
1989 - 1992                John Arnfield Heap                 (b. 1932 - d. 2006)
1992 - Dec 2006            Michael G. Richardson
2007 - 2008                Jane Rumble (f)
2008 -                     Rob Bowman

Magistrates of the South Shetland Islands¹
1906 - 1914                ....
Nov 1914 - 1915            William Barlas                     (b. 1888 - d. 1941)
1915 - 1931                ....

 ¹From 1906 - 1931 during the whaling season only, there was also a separate Magistrate of the South Shetland Islands.

Territorial Disputes: British Antarctic claim overlaps Argentine and Chilean claims. Antarctic claim is not been recognized by the United Nations, U.S., Russia or by most other countries (other than Australia and New Zealand).