I am continuing down a geographic rabbit hole.
We’re all mostly stuck at home, so I thought I would go traveling with my blog. Each day this week, I’m going to explore a different continent. There are now eight continents, but I’m going to cover the traditional seven. Perhaps later, I’ll explain why we added another one.
Today we are traveling to the bottom of the world, The continent of Antarctica. Many people run marathons at the South Pole, but that is not on my bucket list.
I’m getting my information from kids-world-travel-guide.com. Let’s explore!
Antarctica Facts:
- The word “Antarctica” comes from the Greek word “Antarktike” which means “The opposite to north”
- Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. It is twice the size of Australia
- Most of the continent is covered in ice with an average depth of 6,000 feet
- Antarctica is the driest continent. It is an icy desert and gets very little rainfall
- It is also the windiest place with wind speeds measured at more than 218 mph
- Antarctica is the least populated continent with no permanent residents. About 1,000 people there in the winter and 10,000 people in the summer work at various research stations
- It is the highest continent with an average elevation of over 9,000 feet above sea level.
- The highest point is Mount Vinson at 16,000 feet
- The lowest point in Antarctica is tricky. It is under the Denman Glacier, 11,500 feet below sea level. That is way lower than the dead sea, but since it is under ice it’s not at the surface
- Antarctica is the coldest continent. Air temperature measured at Vostok Station in 1983 register at -128.6 °F
- The geographic South Pole is 9,100 feet above sea level
- Around 40,00 tourists visit Antarctica every year
- Antarctica contains more than 90% of both the world’s ice and the world’s fresh water