GEOGRAPHY
Location |
A continent mostly south of the Antarctic Circle
and outlying Sub antarctic islands |
Geographic Coordinates
|
90 00S 0 00E |
Map References |
Antarctic Region |
Area |
13,768,628 square kilometres (857,788 square kilometres
ice-free, 12,910,840 square kilometres ice-covered) |
Note |
5th largest continent in the world (following
Asia, Africa, North America and South America but larger than Australia and
the subcontinent of Europe). Is the second largest sovereign country in the
world in terms of land area after Russia. |
Area comparative |
Slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US |
Land boundaries |
0 km |
Coastline |
20,949 kilometres |
Maritime Claims |
Claims 20,000 square kilometres of the EEZ of the
Falkland Islands and Argentina |
Climate |
Varies from Frigid Ice-cap climate to Warm
Subtropical climate |
Terrain |
About 94% of the land surface is covered with a
permanent ice sheet with average elevations between 1,000 and 3,000 metres;
mountain ranges to almost 5,000 metres; about 25% of the outer coastline of
the country is ice-free throughout the year. |
Elevation Extremes |
Lowest Point: Fofoma siseki pipeni uu peeneteli (Bentley
Subglacial Trench) -2,555m Highest Point: Piinesone Maasi (Vinson Massif) 4,897m |
Natural Resources |
Iron Ore, Chromium, Copper, Gold, Nickel, Platinum
and other minerals, Hydrocarbons, Fish and seafood |
Land Use |
Arable Land: 0.13% Other: 99.87% (94% of the country is covered by a
permanent glacier) |
Irrigated Land |
0 square kilometres |
Natural Hazards |
On certain areas of the coast there are icebergs
which can pose hazards to shipping. In the interior, there are blizzards
which can cause dangerous transportation conditions overland. Volcanism on certain
sub-antarctic islands. |
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 passing
through the hole damages the DNA of icefish, an antarctic fish lacking
hemoglobin; ozone depletion earlier was shown to harm antarctic marine
plants; in 2002, significant areas of glaciers disintegrated in response to
regional warming |
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 |