Terra Incognita

Imagined from the antiquity and then coveted by generations of explorers, the Antarctic continent remained Terra Incognita until it was first docked in 1820. Since then, its glacier cap has transmitted to us a climate archive on more than 800 000 years, revealing a new climatic era impacted by human activity. Its unique fauna continues to deliver the secrets of its extraordinary capacities of adaptation and resistance. In 1959, following an initiative led by France and Australia, an international treaty reserved the entire continent to peace and science in a unique example of international collaboration. The exploitation of resources, hunting, fishing, or the presence of nuclear or military forces are prohibited during the renewal of the treaty, for now until 2048. Antarctica thus represents the last utopia on Earth: to this day it is at once the only continent internationally protected, and the only one whose land belongs to all mankind.