Achaean Territory of Antarctica
| The Achaean Territory of Antarctica | ||||
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| Motto Fortune favors the bold | ||||
| Anthem "Battle Hymn of the Achaean Civil Defense Force" | ||||
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| Capital city | Achilles (Byrd Station) | |||
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| Official language(s) | English | |||
| Official religion(s) | Protestant, Greek Polytheism | |||
| Demonym | Achaean | |||
| Government | Dictatorship | |||
| - Head of State | Consul-General Travis McHenry | |||
| Legislature | None | |||
| Established | 02 November 2001 | |||
| Area claimed | 3 million km2 | |||
| Population | < 20 Census never conducted | |||
| Currency | Never established | |||
| National animal | Penguin | |||
The Achaean Territory of Antarctica was the original name of Westarctica when it was founded on 2 November 2001 by Travis McHenry, who proclaimed himself Consul-General of the Achaean Territory prior to filing his legal claim to the territory.
The Achaean Territory was a new country project that evolved into a Micronation named Westarctica in June 2004.
History
"The New Land Claim"
In August 2001, while serving in the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Specialist onboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Travis McHenry spent a significant amount of time researching the countries of the world in the classified (at SECRET/NOFORN level) version of the C.I.A. World Factbook. In the course of his research, he discovered that the region of Antarctica between 90°W and 150°W was unclaimed by any nation.
Travis obtained a National Geographic atlas of the world and flipped to the large map of Antarctica on the back page. He carefully studied the map and determined that it had no political affiliation at all. He also noted the existence of the Whitmore Mountains, as his childhood best friend had the last name "Whitmoyer." Travis spent the rest of the month of August researching the complicated political situation surrounding Antarctica and read the entire text of the Antarctic Treaty multiple times, looking for loopholes that could potentially be exploited.
Finally, Travis determined that although Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty prohibits any nation from making new claims on the Antarctic continent, it would not prevent an individual from doing so. He called his prospective claim "The New Land Claim," and slowly began to further develop the concepts and ideals of the territory.