Antarctica

Antarctica
Location of Antarctica
Location of Antarctica
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Categories: Antarctica • People

Antarctica is a continental land mass located at the Earth's southern geographical pole. Home to a permanent ice sheet many kilometres in depth, it is covered in ice and snow year-round. It is the only continent on Earth not to have a native human population. The only human settlements in Antarctica are research bases operated by various scientific organizations, hosting researchers and support staff who generally stay for only part of the year.[1] The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, representing a major accomplishment of international cooperation, preserves the entire continent for nonmilitary scientific activities and freezes all territorial claims to Antarctic lands. The 1991 Madrid Protocol later prohibited mining and established a continent-wide natural reserve.[1]

With no native human inhabitants and only a transient human population, Bahá’í activities in Antarctica are quite limited. Individual Bahá’ís have travelled to Antarctica as part of their professions, and on occasion these Bahá’ís have taken personal actions to teach the Bahá’í Faith or conduct activities. The closest Bahá’í locality to Antarctica is Ushuaia, Argentina.[2]

McMurdo Station[edit]

Although it does not host a Bahá’í community, McMurdo Station, an American research base on McMurdo Sound and the largest settlement on the continent, has been a centre of intermittent Bahá’í activity in Antarctica.[3] Some Bahá’í activities have been known to take place at the station's non-denominational Chapel of the Snows.[4]

The station's local library is known to have Bahá’í books. Miss Joyce, a Bahá’í from Christchurch, New Zealand, presented a set of seven Bahá’í books to the American Antarctic Expedition for their library during the Ten Year Crusade in 1956, with more books to be sent later to McMurdo.[5] Shoghi Effendi later highlighted her actions in his letter to the National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States.[6] In 1983, Bahá’í fisherwoman Jean Jaklevick Collins arranged to have Bahá’í books delivered for donation to the library.[7]

Bahá’í visitors[edit]

Robert L. Darlow holds the calligraphy of the Greatest Name on a visit to the South Pole in 1984.
  • In 1968, Chilean Bahá’ís Aníbal Soto and Norma Soto were posted to a Chilean base in Antarctica.[8]
  • In 1975, Australian Bahá’í John R. Peiniger was stationed on the continent.[9]
  • In 1983, Bahá’í fisherwoman Jean Jaklevick Collins visited McMurdo Station while working on an American government vessel.[7]
  • In 1984, Robert L. Darlow, a Bahá’í pioneer to Guam, was posted to Antarctica for two weeks.[10]
  • In 1995, New Zealand Bahá’í Judy Forbes served as a ship's doctor on a passenger trip around Antarctica on a Russian icebreaker.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 van der Watt, Lize-Marié. "Antarctica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  2. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 426, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Kulik, Rebecca M. "McMurdo Station". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  4. ↑ Boano, Victoria. "Churches in Antarctica". oceanwide-expeditions.com. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 310, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ The Guardian’s Message to the 49th Annual Convention, insert to Bahá’í News, issue 315.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Pole to Pole". Herald of the South, vol. 11, April 1987, pp. 4–10, 40–47.
  8. ↑ "Chronology: Date 1968-12-31". bahai-library.com. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Chronology: Date 1975-03-00". bahai-library.com. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1985). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 654, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ "Focus". Herald of the South, vol. 44, July–September 1995, pp. 22–23.
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