Australian Antarctic Territory (Australia¹)--part: 105 to 120 degrees east

How is the land laid out?

This pie-shaped piece of Antarctica includes the South Magnetic Pole. It is part of Greater Antarctica, and it follows that area's pattern: a high, ice-covered plateau from the South Pole to near the coast; hills near the coast--interrupted by two glacial flows; an ice shelf and sea ice, varying in extent and packing with the season. The ice shelf here is irregular: besides the usual embedded islands, it is deeply embayed, and there is even a section of permanent ice that is seasonally unconnected to the mainland. The Totten Glacier, which extends back 1100 kilometers, extends a tongue into the shelf (as of 2016); the glacier is losing density and is expected to substantially melt.²

Map

Who lives there?

There are two permanent research bases, one near the magnetic pole and one larger one by the coast. Judging by the administrative languages of the bases, one can presume English is the majority language of this zone, with Russian second. Less certainly, one can assume that the religion, or at least religious background, of the majority is Christian, with Protestants outnumbering the Russian Orthodox.

Who was there before?

No-one even visited Greater Antarctica before the late 19th century.

Around the Area

north
east
west

Footnotes

1. Antarctic claims are still in abeyance as of 2014.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totten_Glacier, accessed May 24, 2016.