Antarctica Facts: 10 to Get You Started

When you live in a cold-weather climate, you get used to being judged by people who live closer to the equator. You turn to standard rationalizations such as I like the four seasons, I like the cold better than the heat, and the spring is beautiful. To that collection, I recommend adding a new one: At least it’s not Antarctica. Here are 10 Antarctica facts to make you feel like you live in a huge, warm city. (I used the book Where Is Antarctica? as a guide.)

 

1

Antarctica encompasses about 5.5 million square miles (98 percent covered by ice and entirely surrounded by the Southern Ocean), making it the fifth-largest continent, ahead of Oceania and Europe. The Transantarctic Mountains (among the world’s longest above-water mountain ranges) divide the continent into a larger eastern part (containing the geographic South Pole) and a smaller western part (containing the somewhat warmer Antarctic Peninsula that reaches toward South America). There are also a bunch of islands. Here’s a map.

 

2

Not only is Antarctica largely covered by ice, but the ice is remarkably thick, averaging about 1.2 miles in thickness. As a result, Antarctica is home to about 90 percent of the earth’s ice (and a sizable portion of the earth’s freshwater reserves). If the ice were to melt, global sea levels would rise by 200 feet.

 

3

Antarctica is, of course, the coldest and windiest of the continents. It also has the highest average elevation (about 8,200 feet above sea level) thanks to the aforementioned layer of ice. Perhaps one of the most surprising Antarctica facts is that it is the driest of the continents. Most of the land is a polar desert—in fact, the South Pole averages less than 0.4 inches of precipitation per year.

 

4

Despite some harsh conditions, Antarctica and the surrounding waters are not completely inhospitable to life. Depending on the time of year, you can see whales, fish, krill, seals, various sea birds, and, of course, penguins. Plant life has also found a home, as have numerous microscopic organisms.

 

5

The first human thought (by some) to have set foot on Antarctica did so in 1821. That honor went to John Davis, a seal hunter from Connecticut. Of course, non-humans had made it earlier—dinosaurs, which lived during a time when Antarctica was relatively balmy, are included on that list.

 

6

In 1911, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team became the first humans to set foot on the geographic South Pole. (That’s the point on Earth where no matter which way you choose to go, you end up heading north.) Norway remains one of seven countries with territorial claims in Antarctica, none of which are widely recognized.

 

7

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries, ensuring that the continent would remain free from new land claims, free from military activity, and open to scientific research. As of 2021, the treaty has 54 parties.

 

8

The population of Antarctica is about 5,000 in the summer and 1,000 in the winter. Either way, the population density is definitely less than 0.01 per square mile. These hardy few individuals are mostly manning research stations that dot the continent, allowing people like me to sit in coffee shops and recycle their hard-earned Antarctica facts. The largest facility is McMurdo Station, operated by the United States.

 

9

Antarctica was the site of one of the world’s deadliest aviation incidents. In 1979, an Air New Zealand flight offering views of the continent (without landing) collided with Mount Erebus—an active volcano—sadly killing all 257 passengers and crew on board.

 

10

Based on Antarctica’s unique position on the planet as well as the planet’s tilt, a couple other distinctive phenomena occur. The continent receives nearly constant daylight for half the year (when facing the sun) and nearly constant darkness for the other half (when facing away from the sun). And, of course, there are the southern lights (aurora australis). Charged particles emanating from the sun (as part of the solar wind) make their way to the magnetic South Pole, and, upon interacting with oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere, create quite a light show.

 

As a final note, if the South Pole and its average winter temperature of -76°F sounds too cold, you could consider the North Pole instead. Due in part to the moderating effect of the Arctic Ocean, a smaller ice sheet, and a lower elevation, the North Pole has a relatively warm average winter temperature of -40°F. Or, of course, you could consider the almost tropical Rochester, NY.