Who owns and runs Antarctica?

Antarctica is not officially owned by any government. It is not a country. However, there are over 12 countries that claim rights to certain portions of the continent.

These countries include the United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Japan, France, South Africa, Norway, Belgium, Australia, and Germany. These countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959.

Of all these countries, the United Kingdom is the first to lay claim of some portion of Antarctica in the 19th century. Antarctica is free of military activities, mining, and the use of nuclear explosions. Antarctica remains a nature reserve and strictly for scientific research purposes.

In summary, nobody owns Antarctica. Antarctica does not have a government of its own. Several countries have territorial claims on the continent.

Antarctica is officially owned by nobody. No country or continent can lay claim on it, though some countries have their stations built on some parts of the continent, which can make them claim the portion on which their stations are built, that does not certify that any of these countries on the continent at large.

The countries include New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, France, Norway, Chile, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries can only claim to have a right to some portion of the continent. Though as times go by and more improvements set into the world of technology, it is very sure that Antarctica would be filled with more population.

And the first to obtain a certain portion of a land area will start to claim the land as his. But nevertheless, for now, no one owns Antarctica, and anyone can visit the place at any appropriate time as he likes.

No one actually owns Antarctica and there is no one who is actually ruling the place. There are some countries that seem to have joint ownership of this continent though.

These countries are the following: United Kingdom, USSR, United States, Chile, Argentina, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Norway, and South Africa. They also have their own claim rights regarding their territories in the continent but if you would check these claim rights, some of them may be overlapping with each other.

All of Antarctica is free from the military forces as it is only supposed to be a peaceful and serene continent that people may visit from time to time.

There is no president of Antarctica. It is divided into several regions, each with a different administrator. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the ruler of four of these regions, which might seem strange. Other countries provide presidents or the like for other regions.

For instance, Oscar Ungar is the president of Swabia, for instance, and I believe he is Austrian. The reason for this is a worldwide wish for protection of this special region. It became a condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System.

Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. therefore, they are represented in this region and that have consulting status. No mining or military events can therefore be carried out there without worldwide knowledge, and the natural area is protected.