Tartar Island is a small (13 ha), ice-free, oval-shaped island 0.6 km (0.37 mi) long, lying 0.7 km (0.43 mi) north-west of Round Point, off the north coast of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1960 for the sealing vessel Tartar (Captain Pottinger) from London, which visited the South Shetland Islands in 1821–22.
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Antarctica |
Coordinates | 61°55′47″S 58°26′13″W / 61.92972°S 58.43694°W |
Administration | |
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
Demographics | |
Population | Uninhabited |
Important Bird Area
editThe island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 18,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Tartar Island, King George Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
This article incorporates public domain material from "Tartar Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.