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The Ross Dependency comprises an area of Antarctica between the Ross Sea and the South Pole that the British government took possession of in 1923 and entrusted to the administration of New Zealand. It lies between longitudes 160 degrees east and 150 degrees west and to the south of the Antarctic circle. The Dependency takes its name from Sir James Clark Ross, who discovered the Ross Sea.

The Governor of the Ross Dependency is (as of 2004) the Governor-General of New Zealand. Officers of the Government of the Ross Dependency are annually appointed to run the Dependency.

The Dependency includes most of the Ross Ice ShelfThe Ross Ice Shelf (81º30´S 175º00´W) is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (an area of half a million square kilometres, and about 800 km across: about the size of France). Most of it is located within the Ross Dependency. Ice shelves are permanent floa. The scientific bases of Scott BaseScott Base is a base in Antarctica, owned by New Zealand. It was named after Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. It is New Zealand's main base which was set up as support to field (New Zealand) and McMurdo StationMcMurdo Station sits on the southern tip of Ross Island in Antarctica, 2,200 miles (3,500 km) due south of New Zealand, and serves as the logistics hub for half the continent. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Stati (USA) currently form the only permanently occupied human habitations in the area - unless one includes the Amundsen-Scott South Pole StationThe Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is an American research station at Earth's South Pole in Antarctica. This makes it the southernmost continually-inhabited place on the planet. Antarctic Treaty signatories are arrayed around it, and the Pole Station's. The Dependency has an ice runway at Williams Field , normally only suitable for landing ski-equipped aircraft during the summer season.

The Ross IslandRoss Island is a volcanic island in the Ross Sea by Antarctica, on the coast of Victoria Land. Sir James Clark Ross discovered it in 1841, and the island was later named in honor of him by Robert F. The volcanoes Terror (3230 m) and Erebus (4023 m) are si, Balleny IslandsThe Balleny Islands form a chain of uninhabited, mainly volcanic, islands in the Southern Ocean streching from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group contains three main islands: Young, Buckle and Sturge; and several smaller ones (Row, Borra and the small Scott Island also form part of the Dependency. New Zealand has a summer-only base in the western highlands of the dependency called Vanda Station.

Neither the Russian Federation nor the United States of America recognizes the juristiction of New Zealand over Ross Dependency, despite the specific mention of the territory by the Governor-General of New Zealand when this person assumes office (the Governor-General mentions all dependencies/territories of New Zealand seperately by name as his/her 'area of responsibility' when taking the oath of office). The Antarctic Treaty has served to smooth over this dispute - along with disputes over other territorial claims in Antarctica - though New Zealand authorities make it clear to all visitors that persons there are subject to New Zealand law.