The Antarctic

The Antarctic is the polar region encompassing the continent of Antarctica together with its surrounding Southern Ocean waters and outlying subantarctic islands. Unlike the Arctic, it has no permanent population, no sovereign government and no indigenous peoples; since 1959 the Antarctic Treaty has held the region for peaceful scientific research alone, setting aside the territorial claims several countries had staked over parts of the continent. Buried beneath an ice sheet that holds most of the planet's fresh water, it is among the coldest and most extreme environments on Earth.