29 Interesting Antarctica Facts

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published March 17, 2021

Antarctica contains about 90% of the world's ice and about 70% of the world's fresh water._[3]
With temperatures as low as -128 F, Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth._[4]
Antarctica is the 5th largest continent and is double the size of Australia. However, it doesn't have a capital city or an official language, and no country controls it._[4]
Antarctica is a desert. It only gets about 2 inches of snow each year. The snow there is old, and it never melts._[4]
The male emperor penguin is the only warm-blooded animal that stays in Antarctica through the winter._[4]
Adele penguins live in Antarctica. They weight just 10 pounds and can dive up to 600 feet under water._[4]
Even though krill are about the size of small paper clip, krill swarms in Antarctica can be seen from space._[4]

Krill is the Norwegian word for "whale food." They are the engine that fuels the Antarctic ecosystem.

Antarctica is a surprisingly popular tourist destination, with nearly 40,000 people visiting each year. However, because of COVID the numbers have dropped._[3]
Antarctica is the windiest continent on Earth, with wind speeds reaching 200 mph (320 km/h) in some places._[2]
The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest single mass of ice on the planet._[2]
Ice covers 99% of Antarctica._[3]

The land looks like a fairy tale.

- Roald Amundsen

The average thickness of Antarctica is about 1 mile (1.6 km)._[3]
Antarctica has an area of 5.4 million square miles (14 million square km), including its islands and attached floating plains of ice._[3]
Mount Erebus on Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on the planet._[3]
A Russian exploration first spotted mainland Antarctica on January 27, 1820. It was the first confirmed sighting of Antarctica in history._[3]
The first recorded child born in Antarctica was Emile Marco Palma in January 1979. Argentina sent Palma's pregnant mother there in an effort to claim a portion of the Antarctic._[3]
British explorer Felicity Aston was the first person to ski across Antarctica. It took her 59 days between late 2011 and early 2012 to travel 1,084 miles (1,744 km)._[5]
There are Victoria's Secret models from every continent except Antarctica._[4]

It's a bit chilly there for a swimsuit

The most abundant land animal on Antarctica is the nematode worm. Sorry penguins._[3]
There are no shrubs or trees on Antarctica._[3]
While you don't need a visa to enter Antarctica, you do need a passport._[1]
The largest wind-driven current in the world, the Circumpolar Current, flows clockwise around Antarctica. It helps move salt, nutrients, heat, and marine life over the world's main ocean basins._[4]

Scott is thought to have died on March 29, 1912, or maybe a day later.

The first person to reach the South Pole was Norwegian Roald Amundsen. He beat English explorer Robert Falcon Scott when he planted the Norwegian flag there on December 14, 1911._[3]
Antarctica is so cold that the water vapor in the air freezes and forms crystals, called diamond dust._[3]
Antarctica is the least populated continent on Earth. In the winter, only 1,000 people live there, and in the summer there are 10,000 people._[4]
In 1961, 53 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, which states that Antarctica is to be used for peaceful purposes only._[3]
Robert Scott, who, in the race to the South Pole, came in second, died just 11 miles from a pre-arranged supply depot. His only son, Peter, would later found the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)._[1]
After Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks died under suspicious circumstances in Antarctica, he was dubbed the "first South Pole murder."_[1]
There are no reptiles in Antarctica._[1]