This is the south polar region of the Earth opposite the Arctic. In addition to the continent of Antarctica, it includes the adjacent parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and islands. This area is now called the Southern Arctic Ocean. Area of Antarctica — about 52,5 million km2 of Antarctica — about 14 million km2In Antarctica there are no forests, no rivers, there are no geographical areas except one — ice. The whole continent is covered with ice sheet in which the "frozen" 24 km2 of water, about 90% of the fresh water on Earth. However, over the glacier, whose power reaches 4,3 km in some places ascend the mountain ranges with sharp ridges. There is even an active volcano Mount Erebus. There are areas of ice-free land and the lake, where the water temperature at the bottom reaches 25 C. But such places are few.Life in Antarctica exists in very harsh conditions. Ice-free land areas are found only lichens and mosses, microalgae and bacteria. However, at the shore in some places are the penguins, amazing Antarctic birds. They can not fly, clumsily waddling, moving along the beach, swimming is very clever. In the Southern Ocean fauna is much richer: whales, seals, sea lions and leopards, various types of fish, including our famous ice. Special wealth Antarctic waters — krill — tiny crustacean. His unusually long, this valuable food product. There are sea birds: snow petrels, skuas. They build their nests only on the coast, but it happens that fly a few hundred kilometers inland.It is believed that the first with the icy expanses of Antarctica met the ancient inhabitants of the islands of New Zealand, the ancestors of the Polynesians — Maori. And in January 1773 crossed the Antarctic Circle English navigator James Cook. The following year it reached a record latitude 71 10 '. Before him stretched a solid ice pack. Cook said: "… no one ever dare to do more than I did … the Earth, which may be located on the south will never be explored." But this statement was overconfident. In 1820 a Russian expedition FF Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on the sloop "East" and "Peace" penetrated far to the south. Sailors met, wrote M. Lazarev, "the mother of the ice extreme heights." . It was not floating ice have stopped Cook on a degree of latitude to the north, and the coast of the new continent, covered with thick ice shell. Continuing their journey to the south and east, the sailors' always met icy continent. " January 28, 1820 — the day of the discovery of Antarctica, the sixth continent of Earth.
