[4] Its total land area, mostly covered with glaciers,[3] is estimated to be 432,000 square kilometres (167,000 sq mi).

[6] The coast of Adélie Land was discovered in January 1840 by the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790–1842) who named it after his wife, Adèle.

Prud'Homme and Dumont d'Urville are the only currently remaining active stations.The site of Port Martin was discovered during a French Antarctic Expedition under André-Frank Liotard [es; fr] on 18 January 1950.

[11] In the documentary, March of the Penguins (2005), Dumont d'Urville Station was the main filming location.

The station, built for the International Geophysical Year of 1957–58, paid homage to Jean-Baptiste Charcot), and was occupied from January 1957 through 1960 housing solely three men.

Horizontal galleries were connected to house scientific measurement devices, while a vertical air conduit opened a few metres above the snow level provided ventilation.

Robert Guillard Station[14] known as Cap Prud'Homme (66°41′28″S 139°53′44″E / 66.691104°S 139.895677°E / -66.691104; 139.895677) is an Italian-French camp, opened in 1994, located on the coast of the Antarctic ice sheet, in Adélie Land, about five km (3.1 mi) from Petrel Island, where the French Dumont d'Urville Station is.

[11] In 2016, a study predicted that an Adélie penguin colony located in Cape Dennison in Commonwealth Bay might be subject to extinction.

In 2010, a fallen glacier blocked the flow of a river and caused sea ice to overflow to the rocky surface that Adélie penguin requires to nest.