Inside my postbox: Antarctica... and its stamps?!

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest and driest continent. It contains 90 per cent of all of the ice on Earth in an area just under 1.5 times the size of the United States. It has no government and no indigenous population. Instead, the entire continent is set aside as a scientific preserve.

The frozen southern continent wasn't spotted until 1820. American seal hunter John Davis was the first to claim he landed on Antarctica in 1821, although some historians dispute his claim.

At the beginning of the 20th century, two groups of explorers set out across the desolate Antarctic landscape in a race to walk where no man had walked before. One team was led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, and the other by English naval officer Robert Scott. The groups spent 99 days racing one another to the South Pole, before Amundsen's group claimed victory on Dec. 14, 1912. Scott and his crew made it to the pole four weeks later on Jan. 17, 1913, but did not make it back alive. A search party found Scott and his two remaining companions inside their sleeping bags in a small tent on the ice, 11 miles (17 kilometres) from the nearest cache of food and supplies.

In 1914, the Irish-born British explorer Ernest Shackleton set out to be the first to achieve an overland crossing of Antarctica through the South Pole — about a 1,800- mile (2,900 km) trek. Shackleton and his crew of 28 men faced incredible challenges and never made it across the continent, although they all eventually made it home alive, according to historical accounts.

In 1959, 12 countries with scientists stationed in and around Antarctica signed an agreement that "Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." Since then, more than 38 countries have signed what is now known as the Antarctic Treaty.

Among the original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty were the seven countries — Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom – with territorial claims to parts of Antarctica, some overlapping. Military activity is banned, as is surveying for minerals.

Here's a fun fact: As part of its effort to claim a portion of Antarctica, Argentina sent a pregnant woman to the continent. In January 1979, Emile Marco Palma became the first child born on the southernmost continent.

Did you know that Antarctica has its own stamps even though it is not a country? Stamps have been issued for 4 Antarctic Territories :

French Southern and Antarctic Territories

The French Southern and Antarctic Territories (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises in French, abbreviated TAAF) is a French overseas territory consisting of Adélie Land in coastal Antarctica and several islands in the southern Indian Ocean: the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Amsterdam Island and Île Saint-Paul. The territory was created on 6 August 1955, before which all were dependencies of Madagascar.

The TAAF used stamps of Madagascar from 1948 to 1955. On 26 October 1948, to commemorate the discovery of Adélie Land in 1840 by Jules Dumont d'Urville and publicize French claims to the region, a 100 franc Madagascar airmail stamp was overprinted "Terre Adélie Dumont D'urville".

On 6 August 1955, owing to Madagascar's imminent independence, the TAAF was organized as a separate entity. Its first stamp, a 15 franc stamp of Madagascar overprinted "Terres Australes et Antarctiques Français", was released on 28 October 1955 and the first non-overprinted stamps were released on 25 April 1956.

The TAAF was administered from France until 2004. Since then it has been administered from the Indian Ocean island of Réunion, a French overseas department. Since achieving the territorial status it has issued a number of stamps, many of which depict the wildlife of the southern oceans and Antarctica or honour polar explorers and researchers.

Australian Antarctic Territory

Australia has issued postage stamps for the Australian Antarctic Territory since 1957. All have been Antarctic themed, and are also valid for postage in Australia, so in practice, they are just Australian stamps with a different inscription.

At approximately 5,896,500 km2, it is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation.

The first stamp issued specifically for the territory was a two-shilling blue stamp with a design of explorers and an Antarctic map. This was first issued in Australia on 27 March 1957 and in Antarctica on 11 December 1957.

Ross Dependency (New Zealand)

Ross Dependency stamps have been issued by New Zealand postal authorities for use on mail from Scott Base since 1957. Overprinted New Zealand stamps had been used for mail on two earlier expeditions to the region.

Two important Antarctica expeditions left from New Zealand and used overprinted New Zealand postage stamps. This obvious connection with New Zealand and the fact that both expeditions ended up establishing bases in what became known as The Ross Dependency is why these stamps are almost always included in a Ross Dependency stamp collection.

Before leaving New Zealand on the 1908 British Antarctic Expedition, Captain Ernest Shackleton was appointed as a New Zealand Postmaster and provided with 23,492 New Zealand “Penny Universal” stamps, overprinted “King Edward VII Land”, for use on the expedition.

Due to ice conditions, Shackleton was unable to reach King Edward VII Land and established his base in McMurdo Sound.

Before leaving New Zealand on the Terra Nova Expedition in 1910, Captain Robert Falcon Scott was appointed as a Postmaster. 24,000 New Zealand “Penny Dominion” stamps (200 sheets) were overprinted “VICTORIA LAND.”, of which 23,171 were carried by Postmaster Scott on the expedition.

During 1912, an additional 2,400 Edward VII ½d stamps were overprinted, and 1,940 of these were carried aboard the Terra Nova when it returned to Antarctica in the 1912-13 summer season.

The first stamps inscribed Ross Dependency were issued on January 11, 1957, in conjunction with the New Zealand Antarctic Expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary (part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and one of the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest; the other being Tenzing Norgay). Before the expedition left New Zealand, on 23 November 1956, Hillary had been appointed postmaster. When the expedition chose the site for Scott Base, a post office was established, initially in a tent.

The post office at Scott Base was closed in 1987 as part of the rationalisation of New Zealand Post. Mail from the base was handled in Christchurch, and the issuing of “Ross Dependency” stamps ceased.

New Zealand Post resumed the issue of stamps inscribed “Ross Dependency” in 1994, “due to local and international demand.”

British Antarctic Territory

The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. The Territory was formed on 3 March 1962, although the UK's claim to this portion of the Antarctic dates back to Letters Patent of 1908 and 1917. The area now covered by the Territory includes three regions which, before 1962, were administered by the British as separate dependencies of the Falkland Islands: Graham Land, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands.

All stamps issued to date have been issued during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. While some are actually used by visiting tourists and resident scientists, the bulk is sold overseas to collectors. The first issue came in 1963, an engraved set with 15 values ranging from ½d to one pound, featuring a portrait of Queen Elizabeth overlooking various scenes of human activity in Antarctica.

Prior to the establishment of the territory in 1962, stamps were issued for the South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, and Graham Land as parts of the Falkland Islands Dependencies.

In 1902, Scotland sent explorers on an official national expedition to Antarctica, headed up by polar scientist and naturalist William S. Bruce. In a uniquely Scottish twist, the two-year-long Scottish National Antarctic Expedition included a position that probably no other country found necessary: an official piper.

Gilbert Kerr, the official piper of the Scotia crew, was tasked with maintaining morale—but he became a postcard icon by posing for the photo above, in which he played the bagpipes in full Highland dress next to an Emperor penguin.

The idea of Kerr bringing out the bagpipes for a bunch of penguins was apparently also intended to test the effect of music on them, according to the 1906 record of the voyage by Bruce and other members of the expedition, The Voyage of the ‘Scotia’: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration in Antarctic Seas. The penguins were not impressed. The explorers wrote that “there was no excitement, no sign of appreciation or disapproval, only sleepy indifference.”

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/people-in-antarctica/who-owns-antarctica/