Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article
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.
In August 2001, while serving in the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Specialist onboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), McHenry spent a significant amount of time researching the countries of the world in the classified 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. This area, commonly known as Marie Byrd Land, was explored by the United States starting in the 1920s, but was never formally claimed. McHenry 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.