Adélie Land Terre Adélie
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Anthem: La Marseillaise
Capital		Dumont d'Urville Station(pop. c.50) 66°40′S 140°01′E / 66.667°S 140.017°E / -66.667; 140.017
Official language(s)		French
Government
-	President	François Hollande
-	Administrator	Rollon Mouchel-Blaisot[1]
French overseas territory
-	Discovered	1840
Area
-	Total	432,000 km2  166,796 sq mi
Population
-	census	33 (winter) ; less than 80 (summer)
Currency		euro (EUR)
Time zone		UTC+10
Internet TLD		.tf
Calling code		262

Adélie Land is a claimed territory in the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a coastline area along the Great Southern Ocean back to the South Pole. The territory is claimed by France as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, although not all nations have given it diplomatic recognition.

Geography[link]

Adélie Land lies between 136° E (near Pourquoi Pas Point at 66°12′S 136°11′E / 66.2°S 136.183°E / -66.2; 136.183) and 142° E (near Point Alden at 66°48′S 142°02′E / 66.8°S 142.033°E / -66.8; 142.033), with a shore length of 350 kilometres (220 mi) and with its hinterland extending as a sector about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) toward the South Pole. It borders on the Australian Antarctic Territory both West and East, namely on Clarie Land (part of Wilkes Land) in the West, and George V Land in the East. The total land area, mostly ice covered, is estimated at 432,000 square kilometres (167,000 sq mi).

History[link]

The coast was discovered in 1840 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790–1842) who named it after his wife, Adélie.^[2]

Research stations[link]

Since January 12, 1956, there has been a permanently staffed French research base at 66°40′S 140°01′E / 66.667°S 140.017°E / -66.667; 140.017, Dumont d'Urville Station, with a winter population of 33, which goes up to 78 in the Antarctic summer. The first French station, Port Martin, was built April 9, 1950 at 66°49′04″S 141°23′39″E / 66.81778°S 141.39417°E / -66.81778; 141.39417, but destroyed by fire the night of January 22 to 23, 1952. Port Martin hosted a winter population of 11 in 1950 and of 17 in 1951.^[3]

France has also maintained an inland station on the Antarctic ice sheet, 320 km from the coast and from Dumont d'Urville Station, at an elevation of 2400 meters, Charcot Station (named after Jean-Baptiste Charcot) at 69°22′S 139°01′E / 69.367°S 139.017°E / -69.367; 139.017, built for the IGY 1957/1958, in operation from January 1957 to 1960, which housed only three men. The station was largely dug into the snow to protect it against the strong winds.

In popular culture[link]

The Dumont d'Urville research station was the filming location of the documentary March of the Penguins (2005).^[4]

Discovery by Jules Dumont d'Urville, 1840

See also[link]

• List of places named after people

References[link]

External links[link]

• Discover France - French Colonies - TERRE ADÉLIE

Coordinates: 75°00′S 139°00′E / 75°S 139°E / -75; 139

v t e Districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands Kerguelen Islands Crozet Islands Îles Saint-Paul et Amsterdam Adélie Land Scattered Islands

v t e Overseas departments and territories of France   Inhabited areas Overseas departments1 French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Réunion Mayotte2 Overseas collectivities French Polynesia St. Barthélemy St. Martin St. Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna Special status New Caledonia   Uninhabited areas Pacific Ocean Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands Île Amsterdam Île Saint-Paul Crozet Islands Kerguelen Islands Adélie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Banc du Geyser4 Bassas da India4 Europa Island4 Glorioso Islands3, 4, 5 Juan de Nova Island4 Tromelin Island4, 5 1 Also known as overseas regions 2 Claimed by Comoros 3 Claimed by Madagascar 4 Claimed by Seychelles 5 Claimed by Mauritius

v t e Antarctic territorial claims Current Adélie Land Argentine Antarctica Australian Antarctic Territory British Antarctic Territory Chilean Antarctica Peter I Island Ross Dependency Queen Maud Land Proposed Brazilian Antarctica Former New Swabia

v t e Antarctica Main articles Antarctic History Geography Climate Expeditions Research stations Field camps Territorial claims Antarctic Treaty System Telecommunications Demographics Economy Tourism Transport Military activity in the Antarctic Flag of Antarctica Geographic regions Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica West Antarctica Extreme points of the Antarctic List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands Antarctica ecozone Waterways Southern Ocean McMurdo Sound Ross Sea Weddell Sea Famous explorers Ernest Shackleton James Clark Ross Richard E. Byrd Roald Amundsen Douglas Mawson Robert Falcon Scott more... Portal:Antarctica

Cecil Madigan's frostbitten face, Adelie Land (Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914), by Frank Hurley.

Cecil Thomas Madigan (15 October 1889 - 14 January 1947) was an Australian explorer and geologist born in Renmark, South Australia.^[1]

After attending Prince Alfred College in Adelaide and the University of Adelaide, he won a Rhodes scholarship in 1911 to study geology at Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1911 he was invited by Sir Douglas Mawson to go as meteorologist on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. In December 1911 the party left Hobart on board the S.Y. Aurora. In January 1912 they reached Commonwealth Bay in Adelie Land, Antarctica, where they set up Mawson Station. From there he led several expeditions into uncharted regions of Adelie Land and King George V Land. These expeditions gathered vital information about the presence of coal in Antarctica. He was awarded the King's Polar Medal upon their return. Madigan later served with the Royal Engineers in France during the First World War. He saw action at the Battle of Loos where he was wounded, and the Battle of the Somme. Throughout the 1930s, Madigan participated in numerous aerial surveys of the "trackless areas" of Central Australia, during which time he named the Simpson Desert after the president of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia -- Alfred Allen Simpson.^[2][3][4] In 1939 he led the first major expedition across the Simpson Desert. Although he was not the first to cross the desert, he has become known as the last of the "classic" explorers of central Australia.^[5] For many years he worked as a lecturer in geology at the University of Adelaide.

The daughter of Cecil Madigan is renowned Australian sculptor Rosemary Madigan, and her daughter is leading harpist Alice Giles^[6].

See also[link]

• Centre points of Australia
• Boxhole crater
• Huckitta meteorite

Publications[link]

• 1944 - Central Australia. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
• 1946 - Crossing the Dead Heart. Georgian House: Melbourne. ISBN 1-876622-16-4

References[link]

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