Treaty of Heard Island

The Treaty of Heard Island is a treaty between the Southern Indian Ocean Islands, and  regarding the latter two's claims on the continent of Antarctica. It will see France and Australia relinquish their claims before the territories being officially annexed by the Southern Indian Ocean Islands, in which they will become a Federal Generality Territory, the only one of its kind in the country.

Territorial changes
The treaty will see the following territorial changes come into effect:


 * , belonging to the French Republic, will be annexed by the Republic of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands following the relinquishment of the claim by France;
 * the, belonging to the Commonwealth by Australia, will be annexed by the Republic of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands following the relinquishment of the claim by Australia;
 * , currently unclaimed by any government, will be annexed by the Republic of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands.

After the treaty has come into effect, the Republic of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands will have annexed a region of Antarctica located between 44°38′E and 158°W, with a total area of approximately 7,938,500 km². This will put the total government area of the Southern Indian Ocean Island to 55,128,530 km², including water. When only land area is accounted for, the total area will be approximately 7,946,831 km², which would make it the sixth largest country in the world in land area, and constitutes a 953% area increase for the Southern Indian Ocean Islands.

Status of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands' Antarctica
The regions of Antarctica that are annexed by the Southern Indian Ocean Islands have no permanent population and are therefore not eligible to become a province within the republic. Therefore, the region will become a Federal Generality Territory known as the FGR Antarctica.

Administration of FGR Antarctica will be the responsibility of the Ministry of the Islands's newly formed Department of Antarctica. Amongst the responsibilities of the department will be the safe-keeping of the Antarctic territory's flora and fauna, enabling and promoting scientific research in the region, making sure that the region is not used for any military purposes, and to avert whaling ships from hunting in the region.

The head of the department will be known as the Administrator of Antarctica.

Future signatories
Following the announcement of the signing of the treaty, other nations with Antarctic claims have expressed interest in relinquishing their claims.

and both expressed interest in joining the treaty on 22 March, 2016. This would mean that the and.