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Antarctica (from Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earth's South Pole. It is the coldest place on earth and is almost entirely covered by ice. It is not to be confused with the Arctic, which is located near the Earth's North Pole on the opposite side of the planet.
Although legends and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") go back to antiquity, the first commonly accepted sighting of the continent occurred in 1820 and the first verified landing in 1821 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. A 1513 map by Admiral Piri Reis, however, contains a southern continent that bears a possible resemblance to the Antarctic coast. (See also History of Antarctica.)
With an area of 13,200,000 km², Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, after Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America. However, it is by far the smallest in population: indeed, it has no permanent population at all. It is also the continent with the highest average altitude, and the lowest average humidity of any continent on Earth, as well as the lowest average temperature.
It has been assigned the Internet ccTLD .aq.
Antarctic climate
Climate of Antarctica.
Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the center cold and dry. There is little precipitation over the continent, but ice there can last for extended time periods. Nearly all of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet that is, on average, 2.5 kilometers thick.
At the edge of the continent, strong katabatic winds off the polar plateau often blow at storm force. In the interior, however, windspeeds are often moderate.
Depending on the longitude, long periods of constant darkness, or constant sunlight, mean that climates familiar to humans are not generally available on the continent. This adds another descriptor to Antarctica, that of also being the darkest continent on earth.
Geography
Region around Antarctica
Geography of Antarctica Antarctica
The continent of Antarctica is located mostly south of the Antarctic Circle, surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Physically Antarctica is divided in two by mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion of the continent west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called Western Antarctica and the remainder Eastern Antarctica, since they correspond roughly to the eastern and western hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian. Western Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
See also: Extreme points of Antarctica
Territorial claims
Territorial claims of Antarctica
Several nations, particularly those close to the continent, made territorial claims in the 20th century. These claims have little practical relevance due to the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect in 1961, but continue to be observed by cartographers.
Most countries that have observation or study facilities in Antarctica have those facilities within their claimed territory. The Antarctic Treaty defers these claims and most other nations do not recognize them. No other nations have made claims themselves, although the United States and Russia assert the right to do so. All claim areas except Peter I Island (see below) are sectors extending to the South Pole, the borders of which are defined by degrees of longitude. In terms of latitude, the northern border is the 60° S parallel that does not cut through any piece of land, continent or island, which is the northern limit of the Antarctic treaty. The southern border of all sectors collapses in one point, the South Pole.
- Argentina: 25°W to 74°W; overlaps Chilean and British claims; claimed 1943 as Argentinian Antarctica (Antártida Argentina), one of the four departments of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands province
- Australia: 160°E to 142°02'E and 136°11'E to 44°38'E; claimed in 1933 as the Australian Antarctic Territory, one of Australia's seven external territories
- Chile: 53°W to 90°W; Overlaps Argentine and British Claims; claimed 1940, as Comuna de la Antártica, one of the two municipalities of Antártica Chilena Province
- France: 142°02'E to 136°'11'E; claimed 1924 as Adelie Land ( Antarctica Cruise Terre Adélie), one of the four districts of the French Southern Territories
- New Zealand: 150°W to 160°E; claimed 1923 as Ross Dependency, a territory of New Zealand
- Norway: 44°38'E to 20°W; claimed 1938 as Dronning Maud Land (Queen Maud Land), a Norwegian territory
- Norway: Peter I Island at 68°50'S, 90°35'W, claimed 1929, the only Antarctic claim area that is not a sector; a Norwegian territory
- United Kingdom: 20°W to 80°W; overlaps Argentine and Chilean claims; claimed 1908 as British Antarctic Territory, one of the British overseas territories
No formal claims have been made in the sector between 90°W and 150°W, except for the Norwegian claim to Peter I Island (see above). Besides, Brazil declared in 1986 the sector between 28°W to 53°W (Brazilian Antarctica (Antártica Brasileira) [1][2][3]; overlaps Argentine and British claims) as its Zone of Interest (informal claim).
Historic claims
- Germany: 20°E to 10°W; overlapped Norwegian claim; claimed 1939–1945 as New Swabia (Neuschwabenland)
- South Africa: unverified claim; claimed 1963–1994 as South African Antarctica [4][5]
Tabletop icebergs in Antarctica
Population
Palmer Station
It is usually estimated that at a given time there are at least 1,000 people living in Antarctica. This varies considerably with season. Generally, stations use their home country's time zone, but not always; where known, a base's UTC offset is listed. Although Antarctica has no permanent residents, a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent. Many of the stations are staffed around the year. These include:
- Akademik Vernadsky Station, Galindez Island, (65°14′ S 64°15′ W), ( UKR)
- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, South Pole United States Antarctic Program
- Belgrano II, (77°52′ S 34°37′ W) Laboratory and meteorological station Argentine southernmost base (since 1979). ARG
- Bellingshausen Station, King George Island (62° 11′ 47″ S 58° 57′ 39″ W) RUS
Antarctica Travel - Bernardo O'Higgins Station, Antarctic Peninsula, Chilean Army. CHL
- Casey, Vincennes Bay ( Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC8)
- Comandante Ferraz Station, King George Island (62°08′ S 58°40′ W) BRA
- Concordia Research Station, (75° S 123° E), FRA ITA
- Dakshin Gangotri Station, Indian Antarctic Program
- Davis, Princess Elizabeth Land ( Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC7)
- Dumont d'Urville Station (66°40′ S 140°00′ E) FRA (UTC10)
- Eduardo Frei Montalva Station and Villa Las Estrellas, King George Island, Chilean Air Force. CHL
- Esperanza (63°24′ S 57°00′ W) Laboratory and meteorological station (since 1952). Radio LRA Arcángel, School #38 Julio A. Roca (since 1978), tourist facilities. ARG
- General Artigas Station, ( URY)
- Georg von Neumayer Station, (70°39′ S 08°15′ W) (Atka-Bay) (Alfred Wegener Institute DEU)
- Great Wall Station (62°13′ S 58°57′ W) ( CHN)
- Halley Research Station (75°35′ S 26°34′ W) British Antarctic Survey
- Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station (62°10′ S 058°28′ W), King George Island POL
- Jubany, (62°14′ S 58°40′ W) ( ARG)
- Macquarie Island ( Australian Antarctic Division)
- Maitri Station, (70°45.58′ S 11°43.56′ E) near Schirmacher Region ( Indian Antarctic Program)
- Marambio Base, (64°14′ S 56°37′ W) Seymour-Marambio Island. Laboratory, meteorological station, 1.2Km long, 30 mts. wide landing track (since 1969) ( ARG) website
- Mawson Station, Mac Robertson Land ( Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC6)
- McMurdo Station, Ross Island ( USA) (UTC12, follows New Zealand DST)
- Mirny Station (66° 33′ 07″ S 93° 00′ 53″ E) ( RUS)
- Mizuho Station (70°41′ S 44°19′ E) (National Institute of Polar Research JPN)
- Molodezhnaya Station (67° 40′ 18″ S 45° 51′ 21″ E) ( RUS)
- Novolazarevskaya Station, Dronning Maud Land (70° 46′ 26″ S 11° 51′ 54″ E) ( RUS)
- Orcadas (60°44′ S 44°44′ W) Orcadas Islands (since 1904)( ARG)
- Palmer Station, Anvers Island ( USA) (UTC-4, follows Chilean DST)
Antarctica Vacation - Progress Station (69° 22′ 44″ S 76° 23′ 13″ E) ( RUS)
- Rothera Research Station (67°34′ S 68°08′ W) British Antarctic Survey (UTC-3)
- San Martín Station (68°08′ S 67°06′ W) (since 1951) Laboratory and Meteorological measurements ( ARG)
- SANAE (South African National Antarctic Expeditions), on the Fimbul Coastal Ice Shelf in Queen Maud Land ZAF
- Saint Climent Ohridski (62° 38′ 29″ S 60° 21′ 53″ W) (since 1988) Biology Research, Laboratory and Meteorological measurements. First Orthodox Chirch - St. Ivan Rilski ( BGR)
- Scott Base, Ross Island ( NZL) (UTC12, follows New Zealand DST)
- Showa Station (66°00′ S 39°35′ E) (National Institute of Polar Research JPN) (GMT3)
- Vostok, Antarctica (78°28′ S 106°48′ E) ( RUS) (UTC6)
- Zhongshan (Sun Yet-Sen) Station (69° 22′ 44″ S 76° 22′ 40″ E) ( CHN)
Emilio Marcos Palma was the first person born in Antarctica (Base Esperanza) in 1978, his parents being sent there along with seven other families.
Communications
The international dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
Antarctica has wireless telephone services. There is a single cell tower using AMPS technology at Argentina's Marambio Base and an Entel Chile GSM tower on King George Island. Communications are otherwise limited to satellite connections.
Military
The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any measures of a military nature in Antarctica, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvers, or the testing of any type of weapon. It permits the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes.
The United States military issues the Antarctica Service Medal to those members of the military or civilians who perform research duty on the Antarctica continent. The medal, including the winter-over bar issued to those who remain on the continent for two complete, six-month seasons, is properly awarded by the United States Congress.
The only documented large-scale land military maneuver was "Operación 90," undertaken 10 years before the Antarctic Treaty by the Argentinian military. Antarctica Tour |
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