Antarctica, the world’s southernmost continent, is almost wholly covered by an ice sheet and is about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km) in size. Without any ice, antarctica would emerge as a giant peninsula and archipelago of mountainous islands, known as lesser antarctica, and a single large landmass about the size of australia, known as greater antarctica. Though antarctica is really, really chilly, it is considered a desert because it receives very little rain or snowfall The small amount of snow that does fall does not melt but builds up over hundreds and thousands of years to form large, thick ice sheets. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and least populated continent on the planet It is in the southern hemisphere and it is surrounded by the southern ocean.
Antarctica, a continent of unparalleled ice and stark beauty, is earth’s southernmost landmass, representing a vital frontier for scientific research and a testament to nature’s formidable power. Discovering antarctica, an award winning educational website for schools from the royal geographical society and british antarctic survey. Situated almost entirely south of the antarctic circle and surrounded by the southern ocean (also known as the antarctic ocean), it contains the geographic south pole Explore all countries antarctica antarctica page last updated Antarctica is a continent capped by an inland ice sheet up to 4.8km thick, containing approximately 90% of the world’s total surface fresh water (and 60% of the world’s total fresh water).
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