Text for written translation. The Antarctic region was first penetrated by European explorers in the 18 th century

The Antarctic region was first penetrated by European explorers in the 18 th century. Cook’s circumnavigation in 1772–1775, and the resulting awareness of the large population of whales and seals there, ushered in the first era of marine mammal exploitation in the Antarctic waters. Fur seals were massively ever exploited, and eliminated from some islands by 1820s. Sealers and whalers become major explorers of Antarctica and Sub-Antarctica in the 19 th century while searching for new hunting grounds. National expeditions began to be sent to Antarctica in the middle of the 19 th century. The first deliberate overwintering was in 1898 and the South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen in 1911, although the mapping of Antarctica was only completed in the late 1940s. Permanent human presence in Antarctica dates mainly from the establishment of year-round research station in the 1940s – although the Argentina station «Orcadas» has been continuously operated since 1904.

In 1959, twelve countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, agreed to allow freedom of scientific investigation on Antarctica. They also agreed not to use the continent for military purposes. This meant that they would not test nuclear weapons there. Later four other nations signed the agreement, called the Antarctic Treaty. Subsequent agreements in what has been termed the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) include the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS), the 1980 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the 1991 Protocol of Environment Protection.