Continent

Antarctica

an-TARK-tih-kuh

The southernmost continent, centered on the geographic South Pole and almost entirely covered by an ice sheet averaging over a mile thick, which holds most of the world's fresh water. It has no permanent population; a rotating community of a few thousand scientists and support staff, drawn from many nations under the Antarctic Treaty System, occupies research stations that swell in the austral summer and empty in winter.

Facts

Area (sq km)

14,200,000 1

National Geographic Atlas of the World figure, including the permanent ice shelves.

Population

0 1

No permanent population; transient research-station population runs about 5,000 in the austral summer to about 1,000 in winter.

Highest Point

Vinson Massif 1

Highest Elevation (m)

4892 1

Lowest Point

Denman Glacier (subglacial trench) 2

Country Count

30 1

Antarctica has no sovereign states of its own; this counts nations that are parties to the Antarctic Treaty System, a different kind of count from a continent's own resident countries.

Tectonic Plate Context

Antarctic Plate 3

Antarctica

Regions

FAQs

Does Antarctica have a permanent population?

No. Antarctica has no permanent residents, only a rotating scientific population.

Antarctica has no permanent population. It is governed by about 30 countries that are parties to the Antarctic Treaty System, and a rotating community of a few thousand scientists and support staff, drawn from many nations, occupies research stations there, with numbers larger in the austral summer than in the winter.

Connections

Associated With

Australia

Australia and Antarctica were joined within the supercontinent Gondwana. Rifting between them began around 85 million years ago and progressed from west to east; the two continents finally separated south of Tasmania by about 45 million years ago, opening the Tasman Seaway between them.

Source United States Geological Survey

Patagonia

This source names Antarctica directly: "faces the Drake Passage toward Antarctica."

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Ross Sea

Source Antarctica (Wikipedia)

South America

Why this is disputed. Antarctica and South America were joined within Gondwana and separated as the Drake Passage opened between them, allowing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to begin flowing. Published estimates for when the passage fully opened range from about 49 to 17 million years ago; most reconstructions place the main separation between 34 and 23 million years ago, but the exact timing remains an active question in the tectonic literature.

Source United States Geological Survey

The Southern Ocean

Source Antarctica (Wikipedia)

Demonstrates

Katabatic Wind Formation

Ozone Depletion

Open Questions

Do the seven national territorial claims in Antarctica hold any real legal weight, given that the Antarctic Treaty freezes them without resolving them?

Source Territorial claims in Antarctica (Wikipedia)

In the Other Atlases

Origin Of

Emperor Penguin

Also in Nature Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Site Of

South Pole Telescope

Also in Space and Astronomy Atlas: which is located in this subject.