Britain plans to submit a claim to the United Nations to extend its Antarctic territory by a million square kilometers.

英國準備向聯合國申請延伸其南極領土一百萬平方公里。

The claim to extend British sovereignty in Antarctica could spark disputes with South American na-tions such as Argentina and Chile, who are likely to make overlapping claims in the region. It also conflicts with the spirit of 1959 Antarctic Treaty, to which Britain is a signato-ry, which prevents all exploitation of oil gas and minerals, other than for scientific research.

英國要求擴大主張在南極的主權，恐將引發南美各國，包括阿根廷和智利的紛爭，因為這兩國的主權可能和英國重疊。它也可能背離1959年英國也參與簽署的「南極公約」的精神。該約明訂，除非供科學研究之用，否則開採油氣和礦藏一律禁止。

Around 7 million square kilome-ter—-the size of Australia—-could be divided between nations around the world, territory which could hold unknown riches ranging from oil and gas to seabed marine organ-isms. Australia, France and Brazil are among those to have made claims, the Moscow boldly planted a rust-free Russian flag beneath the North Pole last month in waters more than four kilometers deep. In this 2004 file photo, British troops were taking part in an exercise on the southern Atlantic island of South Georgia.

約七百萬平方公里，相當於澳洲領土面積，將被世界各國瓜分，這塊領土可能蘊藏從油氣到海床海洋生物等外界仍不清楚的豐富資源。澳洲、法國、巴西等國已提出申請，莫斯科上月更大膽在北極洋底四公里深處，插上不會生鏽的俄羅斯國旗。在這張2004年的檔案照中，英軍正在南大西洋的南喬治亞島進行軍事演習。