Adélie Land

Adélie Land (Terre Adélie, tɛʁ adeli) or Adélie Coast is a claimed territory of France located on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands since 1955 and applied the Antarctic Treaty System rules since 1961. Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty deals with territorial claims, and although it does not renounce or diminish any preexisting claims to sovereignty, it also does not prejudice the position of contracting parties in their recognition or non-recognition of territorial sovereignty. France has had a permanent station in Adélie Land since April 9, 1950. Adélie Land lies between 136° E (near Pourquoi Pas Point at ) and 142° E (near Point Alden at ), with a shore length of about and with its inland part extending as a sector of a circle about toward the South Pole. Adélie Land has borders with the Australian Antarctic Territory both on the east and on the west, namely on Clarie Land (part of Wilkes Land) in the west, and George V Land in the east. Additionally, it is only territory claimed within French Southern and Antarctic Lands that is not an island. Its total land area, mostly covered with glaciers, is estimated to be . The coast of Adélie Land is known for its katabatic winds which push snow and sea ice away from the coast. In a 1915 Science Magazine volume, it was named the "stormiest spot on the face of earth". The coast of Adélie Land was discovered in January 1840 by the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790–1842) who named it after his wife, Adèle. This is the basis of the French claim to this Antarctic land. The first French research station, Port Martin, was built in 1950. It was destroyed by a fire in 1952, and replaced by Dumont d'Urville Station in 1956. Charcot Station was a French inland base built which was occupied from 1957 to 1960. Cap Prud'Homme Camp, an Italian-French base, opened in 1994.