Location: continent mostly south of the Antarctic Circle
Geographic coordinates: 90 00 S, 0 00 E
Map references: Antarctic Region
Area:
total: 14 million sq km
land: 14 million sq km (280,000 sq km ice-free, 13.72 million
sq km ice-covered) (est.)
note: fifth-largest continent, following Asia, Africa, North
America, and South America, but larger than Australia and the subcontinent
of Europe
Area - comparative: slightly less than 1.5 times the size
of the US
Land boundaries: 0 km
note: see entry on International disputes
Coastline: 17,968 km
Maritime claims: none, but see the Disputes - international
entry
Climate: severe low temperatures vary with latitude, elevation,
and distance from the ocean; East Antarctica is colder than West
Antarctica because of its higher elevation; Antarctic Peninsula
has the most moderate climate; higher temperatures occur in January
along the coast and average slightly below freezing
Terrain: about 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren
rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain
ranges up to 5,140 meters; ice-free coastal areas include parts
of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula
area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice
shelves along about half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves
constitute 11% of the area of the continent
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Southern Ocean 0 m
highest point: Vinson Massif 5,140 m
Natural resources: none presently exploited; iron ore, chromium,
copper, gold, nickel, platinum and other minerals, and coal and
hydrocarbons have been found in small, uncommercial quantities
Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 100% (ice 98%, barren rock 2%)
Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1993)
Natural hazards: katabatic (gravity-driven) winds blow coastward
from the high interior; frequent blizzards form near the foot of
the plateau; cyclonic storms form over the ocean and move clockwise
along the coast; volcanism on Deception Island and isolated areas
of West Antarctica; other seismic activity rare and weak
Environment - current issues: in 1998, NASA satellite data
showed that the antarctic ozone hole was the largest on record,
covering 27 million square kilometers; researchers in 1997 found
that increased ultraviolet light coming through the hole damages
the DNA of icefish, an antarctic fish lacking hemoglobin; ozone
depletion earlier was shown to harm one-celled antarctic marine
plants
Geography - note: the coldest, windiest, highest (on average),
and driest continent; during summer, more solar radiation reaches
the surface at the South Pole than is received at the Equator in
an equivalent period; mostly uninhabitable
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