ce waters to the south and the warmer
waters to the north

Geography - note: the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between
South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence)
is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern
Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south
from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend
entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New
Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding
with the path of the maximum westerly winds

People Southern Ocean

Population growth rate: NA%

Economy Southern Ocean

Economy - overview: Fisheries in 2000-01 (1 July to 30 June)
landed 112,934 metric tons, of which 87% was krill and 11% Patagonian
toothfish. International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce
illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season
landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and antarctic
toothfish. In the 2000-01 antarctic summer 12,248 tourists, most of them
seaborne, visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762
the previous year.

Transportation Southern Ocean

Ports and harbors: McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
note: few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern
Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in
midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort;
most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and,
except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels;
vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection
by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7)

Transportation - note: Drake Passage offers alternative to transit
through the Panama Canal

Transnational Issues Southern Ocean

Disputes - international: Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica
entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway,
and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental
shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest
in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS) to include undersea ridges; the
US and most other states do not recognize the land or marit