The Antarctic Maritime Tracker: Australia

This map depicts Australia's internationally submitted sovereignty and sovereign rights claims featured in national legislation. Click on a feature to learn more about each individual claim. Due to basemap limitations, the full extent of some claims is cut off at the border as the full Sub-Antarctic region cannot be displayed and to place greater emphasis on the main continent.

Australia is the only country with Antarctic sovereignty and sovereign rights claims that has publicly demarcated basepoints, baselines, territorial seas, and an exclusive economic zone off the Antarctic continent itself. However, these claims have not been submitted to UNCLOS, but are made available for download on the Australian government's website.

When Australia submitted its extended continental shelf claim to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2004, six  Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties  filed an official objection to Australia’s inclusion of its claimed territory in Antarctica. The  CLCS’ decision to ignore Antarctic baselines  indicates a potential ambivalence about whether the provisions of UNCLOS are applicable to the jurisdiction of the Antarctic Treaty.

In areas where sovereignty or sovereign rights are in dispute, we show the claims of each party based on the best publicly available information. ICAS emphasizes that these maps are not to be taken as an endorsement of any one party's respective claims over another's.