Antartica (World’s largest continent)

Largest continents

Antartica 

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, larger than Europe and Australia, but 98 percent of it is under ice. 

  Antarctic population

The Antarctic population is made up mostly of scientists, pilots and other specialists there to do research in the unique polar environment. About 3000 people live in Antarctica in the summer, but less than 500 stay all through the bitter winter. 

  McMurdo

The biggest community in Antarctica is McMurdo which is home to up to 1200 people in summer and has cafes, a cinema, a church and a nuclear power station. 

McMurdo

People and supplies reach McMurdo either on ice-breaker ships that smash through the sea ice, or by air. McMurdo settlement was built around the hut the British polar explorer Captain Scott put up on his 1902 expedition to the South Pole.

Amundsen-Scott base

 The Amundsen-Scott base is located directly underneath the South Pole. Antarctica has a few valuable mineral resources including copper and chrome ores. There is coal beneath the Transarctic Mountains, and oil under the Ross Sea. Under the Antarctic Treaty of 1961, 27 countries agreed a ban on mining to keep the Antarctic unspoiled. They allow only scientific research. 

  Penguins 

Penguins on Antartica

 

Emperor penguins are among the few large creatures that can survive the hitter Antarctic winter. They breed on the ice cap itself.