The Antarctic Treaty enters into force
Ratification by all twelve original signatories brings the treaty into effect. From this date the continent is, in law, demilitarised, nuclear-free and open to inspection by any consultative party at any time - a set of provisions agreed at the height of the Cold War by both of its principals.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- The Antarctic Treaty (1959) · treaty · All land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees south · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
The Antarctic Treaty
The Treaty reserves Antarctica for peaceful purposes and prohibits military activity (Article I), guarantees freedom of scientific investigation, freezes the territorial claims question so that no act while it is in force constitutes a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim and no new claim may be made (Article IV), applies to the area south of 60 degrees south (Article VI), and provides for inspection of all stations, installations and equipment by observers designated by consultative parties (Article VII). V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: this session had NO working research channel - WebFetch to ats.aq was refused by the network egress proxy and the WebSearch budget was exhausted before production began. The citation rests on the producer's prior knowledge of the treaty text, not on consultation during production, and must be opened before publication.
Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty · 1959-12-01 (signed); in force 1961-06-23 · Partly verified
Antarctic Treaty, signed Washington D.C., 1 December 1959; text published by the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty at https://www.ats.aq/e/antarctictreaty.html
Recorded on The Antarctic Treaty (1959)
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed at Washington
- The Antarctic Treaty enters into force
- The Madrid Protocol prohibits Antarctic mining
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The Madrid Protocol prohibits Antarctic mining · 1991-10-04
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed at Washington · 1959-12-01