Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. There are no permanent human residents and there is no evidence of any existing or pre-historic indigenous population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there and many types of algae. The name Antarctica is a romanized version of the Greek compound word Αntarktiké (ΑÎΤΑΡΚΤΙΚΗ), meaning "Opposite of the Arctic". Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820. Antarctica is divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, a sheet of ice averaging at least 1.6 kilometers thick. The continent has about 90% of the world's ice. If all of this ice were melted, sea levels would rise about 60 meters.
Opposite of the Arctic
Copy this code to your website to display this ^banner!^
