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Built-up areas

The Antarctic is uninhabited apart from wintering members of national scientific programmes, visiting summer scientists and support staff and tourists. In a few Antarctic locations, the clustering of human facilities is a potential environmental threat. These include the substantial US and New Zealand infrastructure at Hut Point on Ross Island; the concentration of Australian, Chinese and Russian stations in the relatively small ice-free area of the Larsemann Hills; and King George Island in the South Shetland group, where eight nations maintain year-round stations.

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