Not that I am to conserned with the laws of men, but could anyone stop me if I wanted to build my fortress of evil solitude in the Antartic? Would there be anyone trying to stop me? Would the UN require some sort of approval? What about resources found there? I plan to quickly begin explorations for uranium and assorted materials. If I find them will there be anyone to say “No you mad fool, those belong to me!”.
If they’re staring down the barrel of your 1920s-style death ray, they probably wouldn’t put up TOO much of a fight.
I can’t speak to what governments might say…but I can speaks to the minerals.
The average depth of the ice is 7k feet.
To do any mining…bring a lot of shovels.
Yes, it’s all a Territory of one government or the other. And it’s all protected by various extremely restrictive environmental restrictions. You think James Bond is trouble? He ain’t got nuthin’ on a bunch of riled up greenies looking to have your ass for breakfast (if they weren’t vegan).
And besides which, it’s rather cold.
While in theory there may be rules concerning Antartica, the extent to which such treaties and rules are enforced is, um… spotty. Fact is, Antarctica is almost totally empty. There’s nobody there to catch you breaking any rules. Providing you ensure your evil lair is not along the flight path of any resupply runs to the very few human-run stations on the interior, you can very likely set up shop and nobody will notice.
I think the UN would get on your case over the anything you build there. Uranium processing is a particular no-no.
The Antarctic Treaty System: an introduction
From The Antarctic Treaty itself:
You might be able to prospect at the south pole as the first link says that “The Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (Wellington 1988), negotiated between 1982 and 1988, will not enter into force.” However, something may have been worked out since that time.
These antarctic restrictions mean that a deserted pacific island is still the #1 site choice for fortresses of evil solitude.
From The Antarctic Treaty signed 1 Dec 59, ratified and enforced 23 Jun 61.
But that would seem to apply to governmental entities, not to rogue states/organizations that weren’t signatories to the treaty.
I don’t know dude. It seems like everyone else said it before: If nobody’s watching, who’s gonna know?
Tripler
At least your beer will be cold down there.
Dammit Squink, you beat me! That’ll teach me for answering the phone mid-composition-of-a-post!!
Tripler
Grrrr . . . “And I’ll get your little dog too!” :cackles:
Several nations claim chunks of Antarctica. The US and Russia have relinquished their claims, but don’t recognize the claims of any other nations. (We consider Antarctica to be the common property of mankind, or somesuch tripe.)
As a practical matter, however, there’s really nothing down there worth defending. As RickJay suggests, as long as you could keep your operations low-key, and don’t make a conspicuous pest of yourself, you could probably operate autonomously for quite a while.
Put your evil lair in international waters and delare it a country like that guy did…
I believe it was called SeaLand… I’ll see if I can find a link…
Plus, I had two links, to your one! I usually end up screwing myself by digging around in too many sites, and then someone beats me to a perfectly good answer. But not tonight! Yessiree, tonight I’m cooking with natural gas! 
IIRC don’t many major powers (including the U.S.) have no claims nor recognize any claims to land in Antarctica?
How difficult would it be to build a house in Antarctica? What kind of heating would I need?
Here’s a shot of practical antartic heating system.
S no one knows what will happen when I begin construction of my death ray?
You plan on using it “for peaceful purposes only”, right?
Wood-burning stove = Bad Idea.
If you do set up an evil base in the Antarctic, you’ll be glad to know that the US government is in the process of building a road to make your life just that little bit easier.
For a look at a (presumably non-evil) base, try this
You need to watch out for bugs!