Argentine Antarctica the first on the continent. On 18 December 2012, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom announced that the southern part of British Antarctic Territory (and Argentine Antarctica) has been named "Queen Elizabeth Land" in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. Argentina, which lays claim to part of the area, criticised the naming. In 2013 the Argentine Defense Ministry announced that Petrel Base will become a permanent base by 2015. The base will have an airport and logistics for transfer of passengers and cargo. The geographic structure of the Argentine Antarctica continues some features of the Patagonia, located to
Permanent Joint Board on Defense of the United States and Canada. The board, which is co-chaired by a Canadian and an American, meets semi-annually, alternating between either country. The joint board is similar to several entities formed earlier by the two countries. In 1909 they formed the International Joint Commission, which by 1940 had successfully resolved issues regarding waters along the Canada–United States border; another was the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. Such bodies' success likely influenced the design of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense. Permanent Joint Board on Defense The Permanent Joint Board on Defense (spelled Defence in Canadian English) is the senior