Travel Guide

Background Facts: Antarctica

Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.

Location	Continent mostly south of the Antarctic Circle
Geographic Coordinates	90 00, 00 00
Geographical Area
Land	14,000,000 Sq Km.
Water	Unknown
Land Boundary	Unknown
Border Countries
Length of coastline	17,968 Km.
Terrain	About 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 metres; mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 metres; 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	Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 m
Highest Point	Vinson Massif 4,897 m
Natural Resources	Iron ore, chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum and other minerals, and coal and hydrocarbons have been found in small uncommercial quantities; none presently exploited; krill, finfish, and crab have been taken by commercial fisheries
Land Use
Arable Land	0%
Permanent Crops	0%
Other	100%
Irrigated Land	Unknown
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; large icebergs may calve from ice shelf.
Environmental Issues	In 1998, NASA satellite data showed that the Antarctic ozone hole was the largest on record, covering 27 million square km; researchers in 1997 found that increased ultraviolet light passing 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; in 2002, significant areas of ice shelves disintegrated in response to regional warming.