The largest unclaimed territory on earth

Our planet has a surface area of 510.1 million km2, but only 148.3 km2 of this is above sea level. The vast majority of the land is covered by one of the 195 countries around the world, but there are a few places that remain unclaimed. Most of these places are small isolated islands or areas designated for research purposes, but there is one area on earth covering 1,610,000 km2 that not a single country has laid claim to, and it doesn’t look like anyone will in the near future.

(The largest unclaimed territory on Earth, covering 1,610,000 km2)

This massive expanse of land is called Marie Byrd Land and sits on the southwestern section of Antarctica. It remains the largest unclaimed territory on earth by a huge amount, but why does no one want the responsibility of looking after this section of frozen wasteland?

What is Marie Byrd land?

Covering a huge portion of West Antarctica, Marie Byrd land was named after the wife of an American naval officer called Richard Byrd, who was one of the first people to explore both the north and south poles, though there is some controversy to his claims. He is known for discovering Mount Sidley, which is the largest dormant volcano on the continent. The region stretches between 158°W and 103°24’W and lies directly between the infamous Ross ice shelf and Ronne ice shelves, in an area south of the Pacific Ocean.

Why does Marie Byrd land remain the largest unclaimed territory on earth?

This was the last section of Antarctica to be explored and wasn’t even seen from the decks of a ship until 1902. Because the region lies in between two massive ice sheets and is also at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, it experiences some of the continent’s worst weather and is also classed as being the most remote section to get to, which by Antarctica standards is quite extreme.

(An aerial view of the region taken in 2011)

So far, no country or organization has claimed ownership of Marie Byrd land, and it doesn’t look like anyone intends to in the near future. The closest anyone has come to a claim is by the United States which is the nation widely recognized as being the first to discover it, and it’s internationally known as being named Marie Byrd land by an American. As for the claim itself, there isn’t a single other nation that recognizes it, and the territory still officially doesn’t belong to anyone.

Why won’t anyone claim Marie Byrd land?

The problem with the continent is the Antarctica Treaty, a document signed by all of the countries that operate there, which includes a selection of the most powerful on earth. This treaty is enforced by all and includes such rules as no permanent civilian settlements and the restriction of mining operations. For everyone else to recognize a territory as belonging to someone, they would need a permanent presence there. This would normally take the form of a research station or small monitoring outpost, but this is much more of a challenge in Marie Byrd land.

To the west lies the Ross ice sheet, an enormous 182,000 square mile (472,000 square km) sheet of ice far too thick for most ships to make it through. The coastline surrounding Marie Byrd land is mostly made up of mountains, which are too high and cold to safely fly over and climbing mountains in Antarctica is something you don’t even try. Since the territory is widely recognized as being the most remote on the continent, it makes it too difficult to build something there and keep it supplied. The region is often cut off by extreme weather for weeks at a time, and even if a base was built there, it wouldn’t provide better results than the safer and more accessible regions of the continent.

Expeditions to Marie Byrd Land

The first people to see the territory were the crew of the Discovery in 1902, though they were only able to see the far western coastline from a great distance. In 1911, two expeditions were mounted, with one exploring the outlying rocky outcrops that surround the coast, and the other landing a shore party, though they were only able to make it a few miles inland due to the rocky terrain and extreme weather.

A 2-year expedition was mounted in 1928 led by Richard E. Byrd. His team started from one of the bases on the Ross ice shelf and made it a few miles inland before they were stopped by the Rockefeller Mountains, and the Ford Ranges, a series of mountains spanning over 100 miles. Both of these ranges are located in the bottom corner of Marie Byrd land, right next to the Ross ice sheet.

Another expedition in 1933 managed to travel further east and discover the Fosdick Mountains, but it wasn’t until 1939 that a major expedition by the Americans discovered most of the other sites. They built two bases 1,600 miles apart and flew various recon missions around the territory, discovering most of the coastal region and the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province. An area that includes 18 large volcanoes and 30 smaller volcanic centers, with possibly dozens more buried beneath the ice.

Over the next few decades, the Americans launched several more expeditions and even tried to build a small base in the region. Later attempts to explore the region led to closer looks at some of the mountain ranges and glaciers, but by now the majority of the land had already been discovered.