Antarctica

Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. 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. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of .

AI overview

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent, located almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and containing the geographic South Pole. It is the fifth-largest continent, roughly 40% larger than Europe, and is mostly covered by a massive ice sheet with an average thickness of about 1.9 kilometers, making it a crucial region for understanding global climate and sea levels.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Continent.title: Antarctica
Continent.image: Antarctica (orthographic projection).svg
Continent.image_size: 240px
Continent.alt: This map uses an orthographic projection, near-polar aspect. The South Pole is near the center, where longitudinal lines converge.
Continent.flag: True_South_Antarctic_Flag.svg
Continent.population: 1,300 (winter) 5,100 (summer)
Continent.density: 0.00009/km2 to 0.00036/km2 (seasonal)
Continent.adjective: Antarctic
Continent.countries: 7 territorial claims
Continent.list_countries: Antarctic Treaty System
Continent.time: All time zones
Continent.internet: .aq
Continent.iso_code: AQ
Continent.m49: 010

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: geographic location
Part of: Earth
Has part: East Antarctica
Named after: Arctic
Demonym: Antartach
Contains: French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Population: 1000
Area: 13720000
Time zone: UTC+12:00
Highest point: Vinson Massif
Image: 1 Almirante Brown - Antarktische Halbinsel.jpg
Calling code: +672

Show 22 more facts

topic's main Wikimedia portal: Portal:Antarctica
topic's main category: Category:Antarctica
located in/on physical feature: Southern Hemisphere
category for films shot at this location: Category:Films shot in Antarctica
Commons category: Antarctica
category for people born here: Category:People from Antarctica
Commons gallery: Antarctica
history of topic: history of Antarctica
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench
geography of topic: geography of Antarctica
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
category for people who died here: Category:Deaths in Antarctica
main regulatory text: Antarctic Treaty System
topic has template: Template:Antarctica
maximum temperature record: 17.5
Unicode character: 🇦🇶
P8168: Neauphe-sous-Essai
different from: Antarctic
top-level Internet domain: .aq
P12749: Benoît-Constant Coquelin
time of discovery or invention: 1820-01-28
discoverer or inventor: Nathaniel Palmer

Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

~52 min read

Encyclopedic overview

36 sections

Contents

Etymology
Geography
Geologic history
Paleozoic era (539–252 Ma)
Mesozoic era (252–66 Ma)
Cenozoic era before present (66–10 Ma)
Present day
Climate
Regional differences
Climate change
Ozone depletion
Biodiversity
Animals
Fungi
Plants
Other organisms
Conservation and environmental protection
History of exploration
19th century
20th century
Demographics
Politics
Territorial claims
Economy and tourism
Research
Culture
Film
Music
Sport
Holidays
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in the summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Antarctica” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.