Chile’s president visited the South Pole on Friday in a bid to fortify his country’s territorial claims to part of Antarctica, as competition in the region is growing bit by bit.
Gabriel Boric, the president, and a delegation of officials visited Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a U.S. research base; the first time, his office said, that a Latin American president in office has set foot on the freezing continent.
Mr. Boric called the trip “a landmark” and “a confirmation of our claim of sovereignty in this space.”
At the other end of the world, the Arctic has drawn notice with climate change making the region more important for global trade, opening up access to its natural resources and intensifying military competition there. Antarctica, by contrast, remained comparatively under the radar.
But more than a century after explorers raced to plant flags in the frigid polar desert, countries are once again starting to openly vie for influence in the region.
The area is governed by the Antarctic Treaty System, which mandates that “Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only.” The Cold-War era pact and subsequent agreements aimed to make Antarctica a military-free zone and manage competing territorial claims.
For decades, the system largely succeeded in establishing an international consensus for the region, according to a 2023 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research institute.
Many nations have long-established or new facilities on Antarctica conducting scientific research, some of which could also be used to explore the region’s strategic and commercial potential. Competition to do so has quietly intensified in recent years, and looks likely to continue doing so, according to the report.
The Antarctic’s harsh environment and the treaty system have constrained access to its resources, but the region has a rich marine environment and potential reserves of oil, gas and minerals. The barren landscape is also a good spot for countries to place technology with military applications.
Russia has increased efforts to build monitoring stations for GLONASS, its version of the Global Positioning System, which has experts say also have military use. At least three Russian stations were already operating in Antarctica in 2015.
China in 2023 announced plans to build new satellite stations in Antarctica, another project with potential military applications.
The treaty bans mining in the region, protecting small reserves of iron ore, coal and chromium. Estimates vary greatly, but the region could also hold vast reserves of oil and natural gas. To the dismay of environmentalists, China and Russia are pursuing loosened restrictions on krill fishing.
Facets of the treaty that involve environmental protections will be up for review in 2048, but could be undermined before then.
Some signatories of the Antarctic treaty have also staked territorial claims — a number of which overlap — while others do not recognize the territorial claims of other countries. Chile is one of the few countries claiming territory, and it has installed a permanent settlement called Villa Las Estrellas.
Chile sought to strengthen its territorial claims in May 2024, holding a meeting with defense officials in the Antarctic as a symbol of sovereignty amid tension over Russia’s reported geological surveys in the Weddell Sea, an Antarctic region off South America’s southernmost tip.
Simon Romero contributed reporting.
