Discovering Antarctica

Many think that Antarctica is just an icy region, just like the Arctic region.

It is the world's highest, driest, coldest, and windiest continent! It is covered by over 5 million square miles of solid ice. It is nearly twice the size of Australia, or 18 times bigger than England.

Who does the continent belong to: NOBODY! But various countries claim sovereignty in certain regions.

The local fauna, apart from algae (seven hundred species... incredible!), includes penguins (Emperor, Adélie, Rockhopper, King, Chinstrap, and Gentoo), blue whales, orcas, colossal squids, and fur seals. No polar bears, sorry!

Due to the climate, extensive vegetation is not possible. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -89°C/-128,6°F (say goodbye to nose, ears, fingers, basically: your entire body!) at Vostok Station. Annual precipitation is of only 200mm / 8inches along the coast and far less inland.

Who lives there? Apart from the abovementioned animals, there are no native inhabitants, like you can find in the Arctic region. A number of governments maintain permanent manned research stations throughout the continent.

What does the word "Antarctica" mean: Antarctica is the Romanized version of the Greek compound word Antarktiké, feminine of Antarktikos, meaning "opposite to the Arctic", "opposite to the north".

Sources: 2041, Wikipedia, Cool Antarctica, Discovering Antarctica