Antarctica Facts

An icy overview

Our nippy neighbour

Antarctica is a continent very close to ours, it lies just to the south of us here in Australia. Antarctica
is actually a continent as it has land under the two kilometers of snow that covers 98% of all of
Antarcticas land. The warmest that Antarctica ever gets is around the coast and is roughly 10
degrees Celsius and sometimes in the central regions of Antarctica in the winter, temperatures
regularly drop to almost -80 degrees celsius.

Some fast frosty facts

Time for some fun, fast and frosty facts about the coldest place on earth!
Did you know that...

...Antarctica is the coldest, driest, highest and windiest place on earth.

...Antarctica is the only planet in the entire world that has absolutely no reptiles.

...In Antarctica there is one waterfall that turns as red as blood sometimes.

...90% of all the fresh water in the whole world comes from Antarctica.

...there are at least 7 Christian churches in Antarctica.

...the winds in Antarctica can reach up to 320 kilometers an hour.

...90% of all meteorites ever found have come from Antarctica.

...some parts of Antarctica have had no rain or snow for the last two million years.

...the first claim on Antarctica was made by the UK.

Antarctica: The Worlds Biggest Pie

Antarctica is not actually owned by a single country, instead it is cut up into many different sized
pieces of icy cold pie for seven individual countries. The countries that currently have a claim on
one of these pieces of pie are:

Argentina

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Australia

France

Norway

New Zealand

Chile

The Image to the right of this text is a chart indicating the claims on Antarctica
= Australia
= France
= Unclaimed Territory
= Norway
= UK
= Chile
= Argentina

The Polar Pioneers

Many explorers throughout history have attempted to bare the chilling conditions, the first ever one
of the Polar Pioneers was the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his band of four. After
bearing many hardships and miserably failing their first attempt, they finally managed to get to the
geographic south pole on the fourteenth of December 1911. Robert Falcon Scott is probably one
the most famous south pole explorers as he and his team of men all perished before reaching the
pole, almost becoming the second expedition to achieve the ultimate goal of the South pole.

Cold Creatures

Antarctica is home to a huge range of animals, some of which are unique to Antarctica. Antarctica
is home to a large range of predominantly Whale, seal and Penguin species. Gentoo Penguins,
Chinstrap Penguins, Adelie Penguins, Rockhopper Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, King Penguins
and Emperor Penguins (the largest species of penguins alive standing at roughly 1.15m) all call
Antarctica home. Over ten species of whale live in the Antarctic waters and 5 species live on the
slippery ice.

Parky Peaks

Antarctica is one home to some of the highest Peaks in the world. These include:
~Vinson Massif (4,892 m)
~Mount Kirkpatrick (4,528 m)
~Dome A (4,091 m)
~Mount Jackson (3,184 m)
~Mount Fridtjof Nansen (4,070 m)

Thanks for reading!

I hope youve learnt some interesting facts about Antarctica: Our Icy
Neighbor!

Bibliography
Websites

Antarctica Facts: 31 facts about Antarctica

http://www.factslides.com/s-Antarctica
Fun facts about Antarctica
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/
fun_facts_about_antarctica.php
What type of weather does Antarctica have?
http://www.weatherquestions.com/
What_kind_of_weather_does_antarctica_have.htm
Antarctic Animals
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/antarctica_animal.php

Ownership Chart
en.wikipedia.org