Antarctica is the most extreme place on Earth. Here are some facts that show why.
- It’s a desert. Antarctica gets very little precipitation, so it is technically the largest desert in the world. Parts of the interior are drier than the Sahara.
- It’s the coldest place on Earth. The lowest temperature ever recorded, about -89.2°C, was at Russia’s Vostok Station in 1983.
- It holds most of the world’s ice. Roughly 90% of the planet’s ice and around 70% of its fresh water is locked up here. The ice sheet is up to nearly 5 km thick in places.
- It’s bigger than Europe. At around 14 million square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent.
- Nobody lives there permanently. Only researchers and support staff stay, and their numbers swing from a few thousand in summer to a few hundred in winter.
- No country owns it. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 reserves the continent for peace and science, and it bans military activity and mining.
- There are no polar bears. They live in the Arctic. Antarctica has penguins, seals, whales and seabirds.
- The sun doesn’t set in summer. Around the December solstice, southern regions get 24 hours of daylight. In winter it’s the opposite: months of darkness.
- There’s a “bleeding” waterfall. Blood Falls in the McMurdo Dry Valleys looks red because iron-rich salty water oxidises when it meets air.
- There’s an active volcano. Mount Erebus sits on Ross Island and has a long-lived lava lake.
- It’s a great place to find meteorites. Dark rocks stand out on the white ice, and moving glaciers concentrate them in certain areas.
- Emperor penguin dads do the heavy lifting. Males balance a single egg on their feet through the brutal winter for about two months while the females feed at sea.
- It’s the windiest continent. Katabatic winds, cold dense air rushing down from the high interior, can be ferocious.
- Lakes lie hidden under the ice. Hundreds of subglacial lakes exist, including the huge Lake Vostok, sealed off for millions of years.
- The mountains are hidden too. Under the ice are entire mountain ranges, such as the Gamburtsev Mountains.
Antarctica keeps surprising scientists, and every expedition seems to turn up something new.
Plan Your Antarctica Expedition with Travellers Journey
At Travellers Journey, we believe extraordinary journeys deserve thoughtful planning.
An Antarctica expedition involves much more than selecting a departure date. From choosing the right itinerary and expedition experience to coordinating international travel and the details around your journey, every element matters.
If Antarctica has been on your travel list, speak with the Travellers Journey team about creating a journey designed around your time, interests and expectations.
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