GRAHAM LAND. Part of the western coast line of that portion of the so-called Antarctic Continent which lies to the southward of South America. It extends in a northeast direction from near Alexander Island (latitude c. 68° 43' S., longitude c. 72° W.) about two degrees of latitude; its limits are not definitely determined. Its existence was vaguely reported by the Ameri can sealers, who visited the region in the second decade of the nineteenth century, and in 1832 John Biscoc, the master of a British sealer, brought home a more definite report, and the dis covery of the territory has usually been credited to him.
The name Graham Land has also been used to designate all of what is supposed to be a spur of the Antarctic mainland, jutting out toward South America. What is known of this region is included, roughly speaking, between the fifty sixth and fifty-seventh meridians of west longi tude and the sixty-fifth and sixty-ninth parallels of south latitude. To that portion of this terri
tory which has been seen by various explorers, various names have been given. The Norwegian sealer Larsen discovered the east coast in 1894, and named the northern portion of it King Oscar II. Land, and the southern portion, which he saw in the distance, Foyn Land. His most southern point is latitude 68° 10' S. The Belgian Ant arctic expedition of 1897-99 discovered what they believed to be the northern terminus of the main land, and named it Daneo Land. The Swedish expedition under the command of Otto Nordens kjold visited Graham Land in 1901. In no case has any explorer penetrated into the interior, and it is not certain that the region is not an archipelago instead of a solid land niass. See ANTARCTIC REGION.