Location:
Antarctica is the southernmost continent of the world situated between the Atlantic Ocean in north and the Pacific Ocean in south being surrounded by several seas like the Weddell Sea in north, Davis Sea in east, Dumont d’Urville and Ross Seas in south and Amundsen and Bellinghausen Seas in west.
Area/Surface:
14.000.000 km²
Population:
5.000 people
The biggest cities:
There are no cities but only more than 65 stations with permanent or seasonal character.
Languages spoken:
The own language of every station in Antarctica (30 countries)
Time zone:
Antarctica has different time zones starting from -6 hours to +13 hours Greenwich time
Antarctica
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Location and relief:
This is in fact the continent from the South Pole. It means The Opposite of Arctic situated at the North Pole. It’s a huge continent but almost completely uninhabited due to the fact that is permanently covered with a very thick layer of ice and snow (over 2,5 km thick). The survival conditions here are very tough. The relief is made by wide territories covered with ice. By the Trans Antarctic Mountains from the central-western part that have the highest elevation in Vinson Peak of 5.140 m height.
Climate of Antarctica:
The climate is very harsh and cold with powerful winds of tens of km per hour and extreme temperatures that register in summer between 0 and 10º C on the coast and between -10 and -30º C in the interior and in winter between -30 and -50º C on the coast and between -50 and -80º C in the interior. So, these unpleasant conditions make the life very tough. The world’s lowest temperature was here with -89,2º C at the Vostok Russian Station on 21 July 1983. In summer some of the coastal glaciers become icebergs.
Fauna and flora:
The fauna and flora of the continent and of the surrounding waters are very low in species, but here are living some species of algae, fungi, mosses and lichens. Among fauna’s species we remember many species of penguins (the most important and best known is the emperor penguin), orca or the killer whale, seals, walruses, sea lions, furs, krills, albatrosses, sea leopards, blue whales, octopuses, squids and many other species. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) In the last century, here were discovered huge quantities of oil, coal, natural gas, iron, uranium, gold, chrome, platinum, copper, nickel and many other minerals and subsoil resources. But because of the territory covered with ice and the extreme conditions, their exploitation is very difficult.
Tourism in Antarctica:
The tourism is getting better. More than 15.000 of tourists come annually here by small or medium boats or by yachts. Unfortunately in the last decades, this territory and the life here are more and more affected by the global warming. Important to mention, is that more than 85% of the planet’s total fresh water is here in the Antarctica’s ice cap. Visit Antarctica!
Lovely penguins in the Frozen Continent
