Because the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect on June 23, 1961, bans military activity in Antarctica, military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose (such as delivering supplies) on the continent.

The primary purpose of the Antarctic Treaty is to ensure “in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.” To this end it prohibits military activity, except in support of science; …

They are: to demilitarize Antarctica, to establish it as a zone free of nuclear tests and the disposal of radioactive waste, and to ensure that it is used for peaceful purposes only; to promote international scientific cooperation in Antarctica; to set aside disputes over territorial sovereignty.

The Treaty obligates Parties to use Antarctica for peaceful purposes only. Any measures of a military nature, including testing of any type of weapons, are prohibited; any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material are prohibited.

Well, that is because visiting Antarctica is a privilege and a responsibility at the same time. The Antarctic Treaty includes a protocol on environmental protection, which designates the continent as a natural reserve. There is a set of rules any visitor has to follow.

Antarctica is not a country: it has no government and no indigenous population. Instead, the entire continent is set aside as a scientific preserve. The Antarctic Treaty, which came into force in 1961, enshrines an ideal of intellectual exchange. Military activity is banned, as is prospecting for minerals.

A Lack of Infrastructure. It is fair to say that there isn’t much infrastructure on Antarctica at all, let alone towers and airports and other structures which can help airplanes take off, land, and navigate. The lack of such an infrastructure can make flying over Antarctica like flying over the sea.

No-one lives in Antarctica indefinitely in the way that they do in the rest of the world. It has no commercial industries, no towns or cities, no permanent residents. The only “settlements” with longer term residents (who stay for some months or a year, maybe two) are scientific bases.

The North Pole is beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone of any country. This makes the surface and the water column International Waters. This should allow anyone to travel to the pole by sea or air. The routes to the North Pole will require innocent passage through the territory of some sovereign nation.

Scroll down to see what everyday life is like in this extreme neighbourhood.

• Welcome to Longyearbyen — the nearest town to the North Pole.
• Longyearbyen is located in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, which is three hours from Oslo by plane and about 650 miles from the North Pole.

Though inaccessible for most of the year, it is possible to travel to the North Pole in June and July when the ice is thinner, or in April if travelling via helicopter. All North Pole voyages start and end in Helsinki, Finland, from where you’ll fly by charter plane to Murmansk, in Northwest Russia to board your ship.

The North Pole itself is near the geographic center of the Arctic Ocean, so you can’t drive to it overland.

No one actually lives at the North Pole. Inuit people, who live in the nearby Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Russia, have never made homes at the North Pole. The ice is constantly moving, making it nearly impossible to establish a permanent community.

Currently, no country owns the North Pole. It sits in international waters. The closest land is Canadian territory Nunavut, followed by Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark). However, Russia, Denmark and Canada have staked claims to the mountainous Lomonosov Ridge that runs under the pole.

Roald Amundsen

Chile

The Short Answer: Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are cold because they don’t get any direct sunlight. However, the South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole.

Oymyakon

Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. It is also the windiest, driest, and highest continent. The South Pole is not the coldest place in Antarctica. The coldest temperature recorded in Antarctica was -89.6°C at Vostok station in 1983.

Answer: The coldest places on Earth are found near the poles due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis. The polar regions receive less of the Sun’s energy due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis. The lesser the solar energy received, the lesser the temperature.

Death Valley

Quora User, Born and raised in Canada, travel a fair bit throughout the country and abroad. The parts of Canada that are that far north are largely unpopulated and just as cold as Greenland. Europe is sort of, unnaturally warm by virtue of the Gulf Stream.

There are two North Poles Unlike the South Pole, which lies over the continent of Antarctica, there is no land beneath the North Pole but more of a floating Arctic ice sheet that expands during colder months and shrinks to half its size in the summer.

Polar bears live in the Arctic, but not Antarctica. Down south in Antarctica you’ll find penguins, seals, whales and all kinds of seabirds, but never polar bears. Even though the north and south polar regions both have lots of snow and ice, polar bears stick to the north.

Antarctica is the world’s southernmost continent resting in the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean. With 14 million square kilometers (5.4 million square miles) of area, it’s the 5th largest continent….So, how many people live in Antarctica today?

Arctic

Antarctica is known for being the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on earth. Although there are no native Antarcticans and no permanent residents or citizens of Antarctica, many people do live in Antarctica each year.

listen)) is Earth’s southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean….Antarctica.

The primary difference between the Arctic and Antarctica is geographical. The Arctic is an ocean, covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. Antarctica, on the other hand, is a continent, covered by a very thick ice cap and surrounded by a rim of sea ice and the Southern Ocean.