1. For the first time the continent of Antarctica was noticed in 1820. Before, that sailors thought it was just a group of islands.
2. Antarctica – the biggest and coldest desert in the world.
3. The lowest temperature on Earth was recorded on a high ridge in Antarctica and reached 93,2 ° C below zero.
4. 99% of Antarctica is covered with ice and only 1% of the land is free of ice.
5. The McMurdo Dry Valleys – the driest place on Earth. There haven’t been rain or snow for already 2 million years.
6. From 70% to 80% of the Earth’s fresh water is in the Antarctic ice sheet.
7. In Antarctica, there are lakes, which, in spite of such low temperature, never freeze. The reason for this phenomenon is the heat coming from the Earth.
8. The highest temperature was 14,5 ° C above zero.
9. The largest iceberg ever existing on Earth broke away from Antarctica in 2000. Its size was 11 thousand square kilometers. This is more than, for example, Jamaica!
10. On the territory of Antarctica there are places where the wind speed reaches 320 km / h.
11. The territory of the continent from north to south is cut by the Transantarctic Mountains, this way Antarctica is separated into western and eastern part.
12. In Antarctica there is a unique waterfall with red water. Such a phenomenon is explained by the presence of high levels of iron, which contacts with air and the water oxidizes and gets blood color.
13. The southernmost active volcano in Antarctica is also on the top of Mount Erebus.
14. There are no polar bears in Antarctica. They can be seen only in Canada and in the Arctic.
15. Also, in Antarctica you will never see reptiles, they simply can’t live in such cold conditions.
16. Another feature of Antarctica – there can’t be used sled dogs. This decision was taken in 1994, after which all the animals of these species were exported outside the continent.
17. Antarctica – the only continent where there are all the time zones of the planet and at the same time it doesn’t have a time zone. And it happened because here the boundaries of time zones came together at one point, like on the North Pole.
18. Before you go to Antarctica, you have to remove the appendix and wisdom teeth, otherwise you will not be allowed to come to the continent. It’s because on the mainland there aren’t carried out surgical operations.
19. In Antarctica there is a whole village, which has a school, health facility, post office, as well as Internet and its network for mobile communication.
20. Among other things, in Antarctica there is an ATM, but only one on the entire continent.
21. Also on the coldest continent there is a fire station, which is operated by professional firefighters.
22. There are seven Christian churches on the mainland.
23. There is even a bar. It is located on the territory of the research station “Akademik Vernadsky” which belongs to Ukraine.
24. It is amazing, but even a nuclear power plant was built in Antarctica. It is located on the territory of the US McMurdo Station and no longer works. However, nuclear power station had been serving for 12 years – from 1960 to 1972.
25. The Argentine Emilio Marcos Palma – the first person in the world who was born in Antarctica. It happened 7 January 1978.
