General information about Antarctica


The land area is 14 million km2.

The population is not permanent.

The highest point above sea level is the Vinson massif.

The average thickness of the ice cover is -2000 m.

The largest island is Berkner.

The lowest temperature is -892 ° С.

Number of states with scientific research stations -18.

The number of permanent research stations is 34 and almost the same number of seasonal ones.

Antarctica – like a huge ice floe, frozen behind the Southern Arctic Circle of the Earth. Nowhere on our planet are there such harsh natural conditions. “The Empire of the Cold,” “the pole of inaccessibility,” “uninhabited continent,” “continent without borders,” all this about Antarctica – the highest and coldest continent of the Earth. Its average height is -2040 m, and the average temperature of the warmest month is negative. It is covered with a thick layer of ice. The ice of Antarctica

contains 80% of the planet’s fresh water. Its ice helmet affects the climate of the entire southern hemisphere of the Earth. Only on this continent is it not the seasons, but the polar night and the polar day, which last for six months, are distinguished.

After the discovery of Antarctica, scientists had many questions. Has the continent always been covered with a thick layer of ice? What does the ice cap “hide” – the continent or a group of islands hide under itself? Are there deposits of minerals in the bowels of the continent? Recently, mankind has been concerned about the environmental problems of Antarctica. Above it, a “ozone hole” dangerous for living organisms was revealed. Why did it originate here, near the South Pole? Many of these mysteries of the mainland have already been solved.

There is no permanent population in Antarctica. Inhabitants of this ice boundlessness are flightless birds penguins, adapted to the harsh living conditions on the ice continent of the planet. Antarctica does not belong to any of the states. Only at scientific research stations, scientists from different countries, including Ukraine, changing every year, explore the ice sheet, the subglacial relief of the continent, minerals, climatic features, the upper atmosphere, life in coastal waters. All studies use the whole of mankind. By studying this topic, we will also raise the curtain over the secrets of the sixth continent of the planet.


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General information about Antarctica