The Ross Dependency is an area of Antarctica (and other land masses in the Southern Ocean) claimed by New Zealand. The Dependency takes its name from Sir James Clark Ross, who discovered the Ross Sea.
The Dependency includes part of Victoria Land, and most of the Ross Ice Shelf. Ross Island, Balleny Islands and the small Scott Island also form part of the Dependency, as does the ice-covered Roosevelt Island.
The scientific bases of Scott Base (New Zealand) and McMurdo Station (USA) are the only permanently occupied human settlements in the area – apart from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at the very edge of the territory. The Dependency has a snow runway at Williams Field, and depending on conditions and time of year, two ice runways. This allows wheeled and ski equipped aircraft to come and go, year round.