Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. Graham Land is the closest part of Antarctica to South America. Thus it is the usual destination for small ships taking paying visitors on Antarctic trips from South America.
It is named after Sir James R. G. Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of John Biscoe’s exploration of the west side of Graham Land in 1832. It is claimed by Argentina (Tierra de San Martín – as part of Argentine Antarctica), Britain (as part of the British Antarctic Territory) and Chile (Tierra de O’Higgins – as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory).
Until the discoveries of the British Graham Land Expedition of 1934–1937, it was generally supposed to be an archipelago rather than a peninsula. The mountains of Graham Land are the last range of the American Cordillera, the almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges forming the western “backbone” of North America, Central America, South America and the Antarctic Peninsula.
See also: Polar Regions
