Antarctica
 
Antarctica (from Greek Ανταρκτικη, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earth's South Pole. It is the coldest place on earth and is almost entirely covered by ice. It is not to be confused with the Arctic, which is located near the Earth's North Pole on the opposite side of the planet.

Although legends and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") go back to antiquity, the first commonly accepted sighting of the continent occurred in 1820 and the first verified landing in 1821. A 1513 map by Admiral Piri Reis, however, contains a southern continent that bears a possible resemblance to the Antarctic coast.

With an area of 13,200,000 km², Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, after Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America. However, it is by far the smallest in population: indeed, it has no permanent population at all. It is also the continent with the highest average altitude, and the lowest average humidity of any continent on Earth, as well as the lowest average temperature.

Antarctic climate

Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the center cold and dry. There is little precipitation over the continent, but ice there can last for extended time periods. Nearly all of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet that is, on average, 2.5 kilometers thick.

Geography
 
The continent of Antarctica is located mostly south of the Antarctic Circle, surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Physically Antarctica is divided in two by mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion of the continent west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called Western Antarctica and the remainder Eastern Antarctica, since they correspond roughly to the eastern and western hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian. Western Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Territorial claims
 
Territorial claims of AntarcticaSeveral nations, particularly those close to the continent, made territorial claims in the 20th century. These claims have little practical relevance due to the Antarctic Treaty which came into effect in 1961, but continue to be observed by cartographers.

• Argentina: 25°W to 74°W; overlaps Chilean and British claims; claimed 1943 as Antártida Argentina, one of the four departments of Tierra del Fuego - Antarctica & South Atlantic Isles province
• Australia: 160°E to 142°02' E and 136°11' E to 44°38' E; claimed in 1933 as the Australian Antarctic Territory, one of Australia's seven external territories
• Chile: 53°W to 90°W; Overlaps Argentine and British Claims; claimed 1940, as comuna de Antártida, one of the two municipalities of Antártica Chilena Province
• France: 142°02' E to 136°'11 E; claimed 1924 as Terre Adélie, one of the four districts of the French Southern Territories
• New Zealand: 150°W to 160°E; claimed 1923 as Ross Dependency, as a territory of New Zealand
• Norway: 44°38' E to 20°W; claimed 1938 as Dronning Maud Land, a Norwegian territory
• Norway: Peter I Island at 68°50' S, 90°35'W, claimed 1929, the only Antarctic claim area that is not a sector, a Norwegian territory
• United Kingdom: 20°W to 80°W; overlaps Argentine and Chilean claims; claimed 1908 as British Antarctic Territory, one of the British overseas territories
• No formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west, except for the Norwegian claim to Peter I Island.

 Historic claims

Germany: 20°E to 10°W; overlapped Norwegian claim; claimed 1939–1945 as New Schwabenland
South Africa: claimed 1963–1994
 

Population
 
It is usually estimated that at a given time there are at least 1,000 people living in Antarctica. This varies considerably with season. Generally, stations use their home country's time zone, but not always; where known, a base's UTC offset is listed. Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations on the continent. Many of the stations are staffed around the year. These include:

• Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, South Pole (United States Antarctic Program)
• Belgrano II, (77°52' S 34°37' W) Laboratory and meteorological station Argentine southernmost base (since 1979).
• Bellingshausen Station, King George Island (62° 11' 47? S 58° 57' 39? W) (Russia)
• Bernardo O'Higgins Station, Antarctic Peninsula, Chilean Army.
• Casey, Vincennes Bay (Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC+8)
• Comandante Ferraz Station, King George Island (62°08' S 58°40' W) Brazil
• Dakshin Gangotri Station, (Indian Antarctic Program)
• Davis, Princess Elizabeth Land (Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC+7)
• Dumont d'Urville Station (66°40' S 140°00' E ) France (UTC+10)
• Eduardo Frei Montalva Station and Villa Las Estrellas, King George Island, Chilean Air Force.
• Esperanza (63°24' S 57°00' W) Laboratory and meteorological station (since 1952). Radio LRA Arcángel, School #38 Julio A. Roca (since 1978), tourist facilities Argentina
• General Artigas Station, (Uruguay)
• Georg von Neumayer Station, (70°39' S 08°15' W) (Atka-Bay) (Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany)
• Great Wall Station (62°13' S 58°57' W) (China)
• Halley Research Station (75°35' S 26°34' W) British Antarctic Survey
• Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station (62°10' S 058°28' W), King George Island, Poland
• Jubany, (62°14' S 58°40' W) (Argentina)
• Macquarie Island (Australian Antarctic Division)
• Maitri Station, (70°45.58' S 11°43.56' E) near Schirmacher Region (Indian Antarctic Program)
• Marambio Station, (64°14' S 56°37' W) Seymour-Marambio Island. Laboratory, meteorological station, 1.2Km long, 30 mts. wide landing track (since 1969) (Argentina)
• Mawson Station, Mac Robertson Land (Australian Antarctic Division) (UTC+6)
• McMurdo Station, Ross Island (U.S.) (UTC+12, follows New Zealand DST)
• Mirny Station (66° 33' 07? S 93° 00' 53? E) (Russia)
• Mizuho Station (70°41' S 44°19' E) (National Institute of Polar Research, Japan)
• Molodezhnaya Station (67° 40' 18? S 45° 51' 21? E) (Russia)
• Novolazarevskaya Station, Dronning Maud Land (70° 46' 26? S 11° 51' 54? E) (Russia)
• Orcadas (60°44' S 44°44' W) Orcadas Islands (since 1904)(Argentina)
• Palmer Station, Anvers Island (U.S.) (UTC-4, follows Chilean DST)
• Progress Station (69° 22' 44? S 76° 23' 13? E) (Russia)
• Rothera Research Station (67°34' S 68°08' W) British Antarctic Survey (UTC-3)
• San Martín Station (68°08' S 67°06' W) (since 1951) Laboratory and Meteorological measurements (Argentina)
• SANAE (South African National Antarctic Expeditions), on the Fimbul Coastal Ice Shelf in Queen Maud Land
• Scott Base, Ross Island (New Zealand) (UTC+12, follows New Zealand DST)
• Showa Station (66°00' S 39°35' E) (National Institute of Polar Research, Japan) (GMT+3)
• Vostok, Antarctica (78°28' S 106°48' E) (Russia) (UTC+6)
• Zhongshan (Sun Yet-Sen) Station (69° 22' 44? S 76° 22' 40? E) (China)
• Emilio Marcos Palma was the first person born in Antarctica (Base Esperanza) in 1978, his parents being sent there along with seven other families.

 Communications

The international dialing code for Antarctica is +672.

Antarctica has wireless telephone services. There is a single cell tower using AMPS technology at Argentina's Marambio Base and an Entel Chile GSM tower on King George Island. Communications are otherwise limited to satellite connections.

Military

The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any measures of a military nature in Antarctica, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvers, or the testing of any type of weapon. It permits the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes.

The United States military issues the Antarctica Service Medal to those members of the military who perform research duty on the Antarctica continent.

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