A national Antarctic program is any government operated or supported program which is mandated with managing the support of scientific research and contributing to the governance and protection of the Antarctic environment on behalf of its nation and in the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty.[1] The Antarctic Treaty, the international agreement that regulates Antarctic activity, has been signed by 54 countries. Of those, 38 have national Antarctic programs. 31 of these programs have a permanent presence in Antarctica and are members of Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP). Six countries have no permanent presence in Antarctica, but have programs that are observers to COMNAP.[2] Only one country, Pakistan, maintains a national Antarctic program with no affiliation to COMNAP.[3]

List of programs

Program Name Operating Country Number of Active Research Stations COMNAP Status
Dirección Nacional del Antártico  Argentina 13 Member
Australian Antarctic Division  Australia 3 Member
National Academy of Sciences  Belarus 1 Member
Belgian Federal Science Policy and Polar Secretariat  Belgium 1 Member
Programa Antártico Brasileiro  Brazil 1 Member
Bulgarian Antarctic Institute  Bulgaria 1 Member
Instituto Antártico Chileno  Chile 9 Member
Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration & Polar Research Institute of China  China 4 Member
Masaryk University  Czech Republic 1 Member
Instituto Oceanográfico y Antartico de la Armada  Ecuador 1 Member
Finnish Antarctic Research Program at the Finnish Meteorological Institute  Finland 1 Member
Institut Polaire Français Paul-Émile Victor  France 1 independently operated, 1 jointly operated with Italy Member
Alfred Wegener Institute  Germany 3 Member
National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research  India 2 Member
Programma Nazionale Di Ricerche in Antartide  Italy 1 independently operated, 1 jointly operated with France Member
National Institute of Polar Research  Japan 1 Member
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research  Netherlands 1 laboratory attached to the British Rothera Station Member
Antarctica New Zealand  New Zealand 1 Member
Norwegian Polar Institute  Norway 1 Member
Division of Antarctic Affairs  Peru 1 Member
Poland Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences  Poland 1 Member
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and the Russian Antarctic Expedition  Russia 10 Member
South African National Antarctic Programme  South Africa 1 Member
Korean Polar Research Institute  South Korea 2 Member
Comité Polar Español  Spain 2 stations, 1 permanent field camp Member
Swedish Polar Research Secretariat  Sweden 1 Member
TÜBITAK Marmara Research Center, Polar Research Institute  Turkey 1 Member
National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine  Ukraine 1 Member
British Antarctic Survey  United Kingdom 3 Member
National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs  United States 3 Member
Uruguayan Antarctic Institute  Uruguay 2 Member
Polar Knowledge Canada  Canada 0 Observer
Colombian Ocean Commission  Colombia 0 Observer
Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation  Malaysia 0 Observer
Programa Polar Português  Portugal 0 Observer
Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research   Switzerland 0 Observer
Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research  Venezuela 0 Observer
National Institute of Oceanography  Pakistan 0 Non-member

References

  1. ^ Website of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs: https://www.comnap.aq
  2. ^ "Our Members". COMNAP. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  3. ^ National Institute of Oceanography. "Antarctic Research". niopk.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 2006-10-07.
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