According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions, and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited in Antarctica. British explorers were the first to reach the magnetic South Pole in 1909, and the geographic South Pole was first reached in 1911 by Norwegian explorers.Īntarctica is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System.

In the early 20th century, there were a few expeditions into the interior of the continent. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegian team in 1895. The decades that followed saw further exploration in French, American, and British expeditions. The ice shelves of Antarctica were probably first seen in 1820, during a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 ☌ (50 ☏) in summer. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 ☌ (−128.6 ☏).

About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).Īntarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km 2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Composite satellite image of Antarctica (2002)Īntarctica ( / æ n ˈ t ɑːr k t ɪ k ə/ ( listen)) is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent.

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