Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth. While Antarctica has never had a permanent human population, it has been explored by various groups, and many locations on and around the continent have been described. This page lists notable places in and immediately surrounding the Antarctic continent, including geographic features, bodies of water, and human settlements.
![]() | |
Coordinates | 80°S 90°E |
---|---|
Area | Ranked 2nd (unofficially) |
• Total | 14,000,000 km2 (5,400,000 sq mi) |
• Land | 100% |
• Water | 0% |
Coastline | 17,968 km (11,165 mi) |
Borders | No land boundaries |
Highest point | Vinson Massif, 4,897 m (16,066 ft) |
Lowest point | Bentley Subglacial Trench, −2,555 m (−8,382.5 ft) |
Longest river | Onyx River, 25 km |
Largest lake | Lake Vostok, 26,000 sq m (est.) |
Climate | subantarctic to antarctic |
Terrain | ice and barren rock |
Natural resources | krill, fin fish, crab |
Natural hazards | high winds, blizzards, cyclonic storms, volcanism |
Environmental issues | depleting ozone layer, rising sea level |
Antarctica is a desert, receiving very little annual precipitation.[1] However meltwater from the continent's ice features produce a number of rivers and streams. A list of these can be found at List of rivers of Antarctica
Nearly all of Antarctica's surface is covered by ice to an average depth of 1.9 km (1.2 mi; 6,200 ft).[2] As such, a number of notable ice features have been described on the continent.
In many places, continental ice sheets extend from the continent forming massive ice shelves.
A list of Antarctic ice shelves can be found at List of Antarctic ice shelves.
A large number of islands surround Antarctica. For a list of them, see List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands.
There are a number of mountain lists for Antarctica:
To be added to lists are:
Antarctica has a number of active and extinct volcanoes. For a list of them, see List of volcanoes in Antarctica.
Antarctica has no permanent human population, however there are a variety of man-made places in Antarctica including two civilian bases.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.