ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

also called Palmer Peninsula, Graham Land, or Tierra de O'Higgins peninsula claimed by Britain as part of the British Antarctic Territory and also claimed by Chile and Argentina. It forms an 800-mile (1,300-kilometre) northward extension of Antarctica toward the southern tip of South America. The peninsula is ice-covered and mountainous, the highest point being Mount Jackson (13,750 feet ). Marguerite Bay indents the west coast, and Bransfield Strait separates the peninsula from the South Shetland Islands to the north. Many other islands and floating ice shelves lie off the coast. One of the first recorded sightings of Antarctica occurred on Jan. 30, 1820, when William Smith, a sealer, and Edward Bransfield, of the Royal Navy, sailed through what is now Bransfield Strait and saw the Antarctic Peninsula. Many nations have operated Antarctic Survey stations on the peninsula or adjacent islands.