| Summary: | Exploring the land and the earth has always been in man's nature. The story of the Antarctic goes back several centuries, with sightings of a Terra Australis Incognita,1 however most of the discovery and exploration of the continent has been done in the last century. Expeditions were sent down not just to conduct scientific work and explore, but also to claim land. The territorial claims where performed by sticking a flag in the ground and claiming it for your king and country, but were these continuances of the colonial hunt the only reason? The naming of mountains and areas shows affiliation, but were personal acts the driving force? Many of the early sightings are not reliable because they were made by chance when drifting off course. So is a sighting or 'first'� discovery enough to make a claim? Before the Antarctic Treaty was negotiated in 1959 there were 7 countries claiming a piece of the continent. Acknowledgements of the different claims were not set, bringing forward the reasons and causes behind the claims. Was there political influence and focus on international cooperation? Was it a strategic game of resources or a matter of honour and glory? This paper looks at the lead up to the annexations and the reasons behind these claims.
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