Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. Find out about other features of the continent and the extreme points of Antarctica in our article.
Land of Ice Deserts
Antarctica was once called the "Southern Land" because the mainland is the southernmost on the planet. Despite this, the continent is completely covered in ice. It has the lowest temperatures in the world. The record was recorded in 1983, when the temperature was recorded at -89 degrees Celsius.
Sunset and sunrise on the continent can be observed only once a year. In winter, it does not rise at all, and the whole continent plunges into darkness. In summer, the sun always shines, not dropping over the horizon to the end. It is extremely difficult to live in such conditions, so the only people on the continent are station workers, who change every six months.
Description of mainland Antarctica
The name of the continent is interpreted as “anti-Arctic”, that is, the opposite of the Arctic - the North Pole. All extreme points of Antarctica are completely located in the Southern Hemisphere. Antarctica was discovered in 1820 by the Russian sailors Lazarev and Bellingshausen. They began to study the mainland much later, and he won the name we knew only in 1961.
The mainland is 14 million square kilometers. Its glaciers contain about 80% of the world's fresh water supply. Kilometer-thick layers of ice hide the diversity of the relief of the continent. In the central part, it rises 4 kilometers above sea level and is the highest on the planet. Its mountain folding is a continuation of the South American Andes, and most of the territory is flat.
Extreme points of Antarctica
This cold land is quite remote from other continents. The closest to it is South America, which is located at a distance of about 1000 meters. The mainland is located in the polar latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. In this regard, all extreme points of Antarctica have one direction and can only be northern. Given the unique features of the continent, researchers identify only one extreme point - Cape Prime Head.
Unlike most of the mainland, the cape is located in front of the Southern Arctic Circle. Its coordinates: 63 ° 13 'y. sh., 57 ° 00 ′ in. It belongs to Graham Land, a disputed territory between Argentina and Great Britain. The climate in the Prime Head area is quite mild. In summer, the air can warm up to a temperature of + 10 degrees, so sometimes even plants can be found here.