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A speculative representation of Antarctica labelled as ' Terra Australis Incognita ' on Jan Janssonius's Zeekaart van het Zuidpoolgebied (1657), Het Scheepvaartmuseum The name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic, which comes from Middle French antartique or antarctique (' opposite to the Arctic ') and, in turn, the Latin antarcticus (' opposite to the north ').
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic , referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle , was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
A map of the Antarctic region, including the Antarctic Convergence and the 60th parallel south The Antarctic Plate. The Antarctic (/ æ n ˈ t ɑːr t ɪ k,-k t ɪ k /, US also / æ n t ˈ ɑːr t ɪ k,-k t ɪ k /; commonly / æ ˈ n ɑːr t ɪ k /) [Note 1] is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole.
Antarctica is the coldest, driest continent on Earth, and has the highest average elevation. [19] Antarctica's dryness means the air contains little water vapor and conducts heat poorly. [18] The Southern Ocean surrounding the continent is far more effective at absorbing heat than any other ocean. [20]
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 ...
Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, including offshore islands, where the climate is relatively mild. Lagotellerie Island in Marguerite Bay is an example of this habitat.
Yukimarimo are like tiny, frosty tumbleweeds or snow marbles found in the coldest places on Earth. These delicate, fluffy balls of frost form in Antarctica when tiny ice crystals are lifted and ...
The Antarctic Circle is the northernmost latitude in the Southern Hemisphere at which the centre of the sun can remain continuously above the horizon for twenty-four hours; as a result, at least once each year at any location within the Antarctic Circle the centre of the sun is visible at local midnight, and at least once the centre of the sun is below the horizon at local noon.