Ross Dependency
The
Ross Dependency comprises an area of
Antarctica (and other land masses in the
Southern Ocean) claimed by
New Zealand. It is defined by a
sector originating at the South Pole, passing along
longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at
latitude 60° south. The Dependency takes its name from Sir
James Clark Ross, who discovered the
Ross Sea.
The British government took possession of the territory in 1923 and entrusted it to the administration of
New Zealand. Neither the
Russian Federation nor the
United States of America recognizes this claim, and the matter is left unresolved (along with all other Antarctic claims) by the
Antarctic Treaty, which serves to mostly smooth over these differences. New Zealanders are accustomed to thinking of the territory as being an integral part of New Zealand.
The Governor-General is the Governor of Ross Dependency.(
MFAT Speech of 23-Apr-02, Antarctic Conference) Officers of the Government of the Ross Dependency are annually appointed to run the Dependency.
The Dependency includes part of
Victoria Land, and most of the
Ross Ice Shelf. The scientific bases of
Scott Base (New Zealand) and
McMurdo Station (USA) currently form the only permanently occupied human habitations in the area - unless one includes the
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The Dependency has a snow runway at
Williams Field, and depending on conditions and time of year, two ice runways. This guarantees accessibility by wheeled and ski equipped aircraft year round.
It also encompasses
Ross Island,
Balleny Islands and the small
Scott Island also form part of the Dependency, as does the ice-covered
Roosevelt Island. New Zealand had a summer-only base in the
Dry Valley area of the dependency called
Vanda Station, which operated from 1969 to 1995.
Greenpeace maintained its own Antarctic station in the Ross Dependency called
World Park Base from 1987 to 1992, which was on Ross Island. As this base was a non-governmental entity, the official policy of the signatory nations of the Antarctic Treaty was not to give any support or assistance to it.
The Ross Dependency is mentioned in the lyrics to
Enya's
Orinoco Flow, where it is used in a double pun/allusion with the name of one of the singer's producers.
see:
Postage stamps and postal history of the Ross DependencyIn the late 1980s when the non-governmental exploratory vessel
Southern Quest sank in the Ross Sea,
United States Coast Guard helicopters rescued the crew, who were taken to McMurdo Station. The subsequent verbal abuse levelled at the survivors (a number of whom were New Zealanders) by the base Administrator caused some level of displeasure in New Zealand, given New Zealand's claim to the Dependency and the belief that any official reprimanding of New Zealand Citizens on New Zealand Territory should be done by the New Zealand Government.
|
Ross Dependency (unofficial) flag designed by James Dignan |
Currently, only the New Zealand national flag serves in an official capacity in the Ross Dependency (the only other 'official' flag seen in photographs was the New Zealand Post flag to denote
Scott Base's post office. New Zealand
vexillologist James Dignan has however designed a flag which has been flown in the dependency unofficially.
*
Government of the Ross Dependency — official description
*
Half a dozen profiles of relevant websites*
History - From University of Canterbury* http://www.south-pole.com/homepage.html
*
Stamps of Ross Dependency
