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Antarctica
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Antarctica

Antarctica 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.

Antarctica was discovered in late January 1820. For more details see the article on the History of Antarctica.

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent in area, after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. However, it is the smallest in population. 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.

Table of contents
1 Geography
2 Territorial claims
3 Population
4 See also
5 External links

Geography

Main article: Geography of Antarctica

Territorial claims

Several nations, particularly those close to the continent, made territorial claims in the 20th century. These claims have little practical relevance but continue 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.

No formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west.

Former claims

in Antarctica]]

Population

It is usually estimated that at a given time there are at least 1000 people living in Antarctica. This varies strongly with season.

Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations on the continent. Many of the stations are staffed around the year. These include:

See also

External links

Ecozones
Nearctic | Palearctic | Afrotropic | Indomalaya | Australasia | Neotropic | Oceania | Antarctic

  Continents of the World [ Edit {}]
Asia | Africa | North America | South America | Antarctica | Europe | Australia
(The Pacific Islands in Oceania are not part of any continent)