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Esperanza Base
Esperanza Base (Spanish: Base Esperanza, 'Hope Base') is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula (in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula). It is the only civilian settlement on the Antarctic mainland (the Chilean Villa Las Estrellas is on the South Shetland Islands). The base's motto is Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio ('Permanence, an act of sacrifice').
Built in 1953, the base houses 56 inhabitants in winter, including 10 families and 2 school teachers. Provincial school #38 Presidente Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (formerly named Julio Argentino Roca) was founded in 1978 and acquired independent status in 1997. It maintains the furthest South Scout troop. The base has an Argentine civil register office where births and weddings are recorded. The base has tourist facilities that are visited by about 1,100 tourists each year.
The LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel radio station started transmitting in 1979 and currently broadcasts on 15476 kHz shortwave and 96.7 MHz FM. It is one of the southernmost radio stations in the world and its range signal includes audio identification in multiple languages. The host of "Panorama Nacional" Marcelo Ayala told at the beginning of 2024 about his life experience and broadcast by LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel.
A wind generator was installed in 2008, mounted by INVAP.
The 43 buildings of the station have a combined space of 3,744 square metres (40,300 sq ft) covered; 18,000 litres (4,800 US gal) of fuel are used annually by the four generators to produce electricity for the station. Research projects include: glaciology, seismology, oceanography, coastal ecology, biology, geology, and limnology.
In the Hope Bay incident in 1952, this area was also the scene of the only shots fired in anger in Antarctica, when an Argentine shore party fired a machine gun over the heads of a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey team unloading supplies from the John Biscoe to rebuild its damaged base. Following the Argentine show of force, the British team returned to the Falkland Islands. Shortly afterwards, Argentina issued a diplomatic apology, saying there had been a misunderstanding and the military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority. Despite this initial outward show of deference, the party was later welcomed back to Argentina with a hero's welcome. In the meantime, the John Biscoe had returned from the Falklands with a military escort and completed rebuilding the British base. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 now treats the continent as a laboratory open to all, and provides that "no acts or activities ... shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty."
The base was the birthplace of Emilio Palma, the first person to be born in Antarctica. There have been at least ten other children born at the base.
Like the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula, Esperanza Base has a tundra climate (Köppen: ET, Trewartha: Ftkc) characterized by strong winds that descend downwards from the Antarctic ice sheet. These winds can exceed 250 km/h (160 mph), leading to blowing snow and reduced visibility.
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Esperanza Base
Esperanza Base (Spanish: Base Esperanza, 'Hope Base') is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula (in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula). It is the only civilian settlement on the Antarctic mainland (the Chilean Villa Las Estrellas is on the South Shetland Islands). The base's motto is Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio ('Permanence, an act of sacrifice').
Built in 1953, the base houses 56 inhabitants in winter, including 10 families and 2 school teachers. Provincial school #38 Presidente Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (formerly named Julio Argentino Roca) was founded in 1978 and acquired independent status in 1997. It maintains the furthest South Scout troop. The base has an Argentine civil register office where births and weddings are recorded. The base has tourist facilities that are visited by about 1,100 tourists each year.
The LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel radio station started transmitting in 1979 and currently broadcasts on 15476 kHz shortwave and 96.7 MHz FM. It is one of the southernmost radio stations in the world and its range signal includes audio identification in multiple languages. The host of "Panorama Nacional" Marcelo Ayala told at the beginning of 2024 about his life experience and broadcast by LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel.
A wind generator was installed in 2008, mounted by INVAP.
The 43 buildings of the station have a combined space of 3,744 square metres (40,300 sq ft) covered; 18,000 litres (4,800 US gal) of fuel are used annually by the four generators to produce electricity for the station. Research projects include: glaciology, seismology, oceanography, coastal ecology, biology, geology, and limnology.
In the Hope Bay incident in 1952, this area was also the scene of the only shots fired in anger in Antarctica, when an Argentine shore party fired a machine gun over the heads of a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey team unloading supplies from the John Biscoe to rebuild its damaged base. Following the Argentine show of force, the British team returned to the Falkland Islands. Shortly afterwards, Argentina issued a diplomatic apology, saying there had been a misunderstanding and the military commander on the ground had exceeded his authority. Despite this initial outward show of deference, the party was later welcomed back to Argentina with a hero's welcome. In the meantime, the John Biscoe had returned from the Falklands with a military escort and completed rebuilding the British base. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 now treats the continent as a laboratory open to all, and provides that "no acts or activities ... shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty."
The base was the birthplace of Emilio Palma, the first person to be born in Antarctica. There have been at least ten other children born at the base.
Like the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula, Esperanza Base has a tundra climate (Köppen: ET, Trewartha: Ftkc) characterized by strong winds that descend downwards from the Antarctic ice sheet. These winds can exceed 250 km/h (160 mph), leading to blowing snow and reduced visibility.