On January 14, 1936, Norway declared annexation of a large area of Antarctica called Queen Maud Land. The annexation of the area was justified by the fact that the Norwegians first set foot on that part of Antarctica. Namely, Norwegian explorer Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen first came there in 1930. The territory was named the Land of Queen Maud after the then Queen of Norway, wife of King Haakon VII. from Norway. Queen Maud was actually born of a British royal family by birth (she was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and also the descendant of the current British Queen Elizabeth II.)
Norway claims land on Queen Maud Land today. It is a vast expanse of approximately 2,700,000 square kilometers, that is, 270 million hectares. It is a territory almost 48 times larger than the territory of the Republic of Croatia, and about seven times larger than the Norwegian territory in Europe. In comparison, India is only 10% larger than Queen Maud's Land.
There are 12 research stations on Queen Maud's land today, two of which belong to Norway, two to Germany, two to Japan and one each to Sweden, South Africa, Russia, Belgium, India and Finland.
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