Survival in this untamed land is a daunting challenge to those who live and work there. Antarctica is the fifth largest continent in the world and covers 10% of the earth's land surface, but it would be the smallest continent if it did not have its ice cap. The sea ice that surrounds the continent more than doubles the area of Antarctic ice during winter. Sea ice around Antarctica is at its minimum at the end of February when only the Weddell Sea retains any large amount of ice; by September, after the dark and cold southern hemisphere winter, the ice cover has increased 8 times its minimum amount.

Antarctica is also the highest continent with an average elevation of about 7,500 feet (2,500 m). The great height of Antarctica is not due to the height of tall mountains but to the depth of ice that covers it.
Beneath the ice sheet Antarctica has mountains, lowlands, and valleys just like you would see on other continents.

This windy plateau of ice and snow is the coldest place on earth!

Antarctic Facts and Figures

5,400,000 square miles (14,000,000, sq. km), the size of the United States and Mexico combined.

3,450 miles (5,550 km), roughly the distance from Los Angeles to New York.

19,800 miles (31,900 km); that's about the same distance along the coast from Anchorage, Alaska to the southern most tip of Chile.

Vinson Massif at 16,066 feet (4,897 m), taller than any mountain in the lower 48 states.

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