Antarctica has no indigenous population and never has. No one is from here. Every person on the continent is a visitor — whether they're staying for a few days on an expedition cruise or wintering over at a research station for months of polar darkness. It's the only continent defined entirely by the people who choose to come.
About 40 research stations operate year-round, run by some 30 countries under the Antarctic Treaty system. During the austral winter, roughly 1,000 hardy souls staff these stations, enduring months of darkness and temperatures that can drop below minus 60 degrees Celsius. In summer, the population swells to around 5,000 as scientists and support staff arrive for the research season. The stations range from substantial bases like the United States' McMurdo Station — which feels like a small industrial town — to modest field camps with a handful of researchers.
Tourist numbers have grown dramatically. Around 100,000 visitors now travel to Antarctica each season, up from just a few thousand in the 1990s. The vast majority visit the Antarctic Peninsula by ship, spend a few hours on shore at a time, and never venture deep into the interior. IAATO, the industry self-regulatory body, enforces strict guidelines on visitor numbers and behavior at landing sites. The growth has raised concerns, but so far the regulatory framework has kept impacts remarkably contained.
The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, designates the entire continent as a scientific preserve and bans military activity. No country owns Antarctica, though seven nations maintain territorial claims that are essentially frozen in place by the treaty. It's a remarkable piece of international cooperation — imperfect, but it has kept Antarctica free of conflict and resource extraction for over six decades. The Protocol on Environmental Protection, added in 1991, further bans mining and mineral resource activity until at least 2048.