Jouney to Antarctica
Antarctica is Earth’s southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. Situated in the southern hemisphere and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica is surrounded by the southerly waters of the world ocean[1] or Southern Ocean.[2] At 14.4 million km², Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America; in turn, Europe and Australia are smaller. Some 98% of it is covered by ice which averages at least 1.6 km in thickness.
On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.[3] Since there is little precipitation, except at the coasts, the interior of the continent is the largest desert in the world. There are no permanent human residents and Antarctica has never had an indigenous population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, mosses, lichens, and many types of algae.
The name Antarctica comes from the Greek ανταρκτικός (antarktikos), meaning “opposite to the Arctic.”[4] Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis (”Southern Land”) date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. However, the continent remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolated location.
