• The Antarctic measures 13 million km².
• It is the highest continent on the planet, with an average altitude of 2,050m.
• 98% of the continent is covered in ice.
• The Antarctic has 30,000,000 km³ of ice.
• An ice cap 4,800m thick (just 7m less than the height of Mont Blanc).
• The highest mountain, Mont Vinson, is 4,897m.
• The record for cold was set in Antarctica: -89.20°C (-128.60°F) on July 21, 1983.
• Moisture amplifies the effects of cold 13 times. It is the Polar explorer’s worst enemy.
• The ice in the Antarctic represents 150 litres of fresh water per day, for each of the 6 billion people on our planet, for… 100,000 years!
• The windspeed record in Antarctica is… 320km/h!
• There are 5 million penguins living on the shores of the continent.
• Only 2 species of flowering plants grow in the Antarctic.
• 5cm of precipitation a year.
• The 1st person to set foot on the Antarctic continent: French explorer Dumont d’Urville, in 1840 (named it “Terre d’Adélie”).
• The 1st person to reach the South Pole: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, in 1911.
• In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed, making it a land of peace and science.