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Italian base, Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica (South Pole) (74°45 S - 164°30 E).
At the end of the nineteenth century French, American, and British expeditions set off to try to reach the magnetic South Pole. None achieved its goal, but each explored large areas of the Antarctic (beginning with the French, who in 1840 were the first to land on what is now Terre Adélie). From the start of the twentieth century the various countries involved made claims to the lands they had explored, and after World War II, expeditions resumed, ushering in an era of scientific research. After the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) and the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, 12 countries set up 48 observation bases on the continent. Today 17 countries run a total of 66 bases among them. Antarctica is now a global laboratory for geophysical, ecological, astrophysical, and climatological research - not the least of which is related to the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer which opens up over the South Pole each October and which, growing ever larger as a result of pollution, threatens to deprive the planet of its protection against lethal ultraviolet radiation.
