Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Antarctica?
If so, excellent! You are in exactly the right place my friend…
It’s time to chat about Antarctica facts.
Let’s dive right in…
Facts About Antarctica
1 – The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was in Antarctica (-128 degrees Fahrenheit).
2 – Antarctica is the only continent without its own time zone (it uses the New Zealand Standard Time – GMT +12).
3 – There are more than 100 volcanoes under the ice of Antarctica.
4 – 2/3rds of Antarctica is covered by ice and snow, making it the largest desert in the world.
5 – Penguins live there year-round but they don’t have any natural enemies because there are no land predators.
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6 – The name Antarctica comes from the Greek word “antarktikos,” which means “opposite to the Arctic.”
7 – There are no trees in Antarctica, but there is a moss called Antarctic hairgrass that grows in some areas of the continent.
8 – Antarctica covers over 14 million square miles and has an average elevation of 2,500 meters (8200 feet).
9 – There is so much ice on this continent that if it all melted, sea levels would rise by more than 200 feet!
10 – Antarctica is the fifth largest continent – it covers approximately 20 per cent of the Southern Hemisphere.
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11 – In the summer, you can see up to 24 hours of daylight at a time!
12 – The first person to reach the South Pole was Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1911.
13 – There are more penguins than people living on Antarctica.
14 – The coldest temperature ever recorded was -89 degrees Fahrenheit (-67 Celsius) which occurred at Vostok Station on July 21st 1983.
15 – Penguins have a thick layer of fat under their skin that acts as insulation against extreme cold temperatures.
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16 – There are ice sheets that are up to 3 miles thick.
17 – Seven sovereign states have made territorial claims in Antarctica, which are Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
18 – Antarctica is approximately twice the size of Australia and fifty times the size of UK.
19 – The only people who live in Antarctica are scientists conducting research about the environment and climate change.
20 – The population of Antarctica is 1,100 during winter to around 4,400 during the summer months. This consists of scientists who come to Antarctica for research purposes.
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21 – Antarctica has just two seasons – winter and summer. It is fully daylight for six months during summer and total darkness during winter.
22 – Mount Erebus is the most active volcano in the Southern Hemisphere and it is on Antarctica.
23 – In January 1979, Emile Marco Palam was the first human to be born on Antarctica – only 10 other people have been born since then on this continent.
24 – There is a lake in Antarctica called Deep Lake that will never freeze because it is so salty – even when the temperatures dip to -15 celcius.
25 – The average annual temperature in Antarctica is -10c on the coast to -60c at the highest parts of the interior land. On the elevated inland it can vary from -30c in summer to -80c in winter.
