The Dome C is located inside the Antarctic continent on the high plateau 3200 meters above sea level. Here, 1100 km from the French coastal station Dumont d'Urville and 1,200 km from the Italian coastal station Terra Nova Bay, the French Polar agencies (IPEV) and Italian (PNRA) have decided in 1993 to install a new permanent scientific base, the Concordia station ...

  The last International Polar Year, which took place 50 years ago (1957-1959, called the International Geophysical Year) was an opportunity to coordinate the international scientific research centers, particularly in Antarctica. This resulted in the construction of many scientific bases on the mainland (now 44, most of them located on the coast) followed by the signing of the Antarctic Treaty by twelve countries (now 46 states have ratified it in different forms).

  After the American station Amundsen-Scott (established in 1956) located at the geographic South Pole and the Russian Vostok station (established in 1957), the Franco-Italian station Concordia is the 3rd scientific basis permanently inhabited, summer and winter, on the ice, in the interior of the Antarctic continent. All other permanent stations in Antarctica are coastal.
Several reasons related to its exceptional geographical location have contributed to the choice of the Dome C site for the construction of the station Concordia.