Total area: about 14,000,000 km2
land area: about 14,000,000 km2

Comparative area: slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US; second-smallest continent (after Australia)

Land boundaries: see entry on _#_Disputes

Coastline: 17,968 km

Maritime claims: see entry on _#_Disputes

Disputes: Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctic Treaty Summary below); sections (some overlapping) claimed by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France (Adelie Land), New Zealand (Ross Dependency), Norway (Queen Maud Land), and UK; Brazil has noted possible Latin claims; the US and USSR do not recognize the territorial claims of other nations and have made no claims themselves (but reserve the right to do so); no formal claims have been made in the sector between 90o west and 150o west

Climate: severe low temperatures vary with latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean; East Antarctica colder than West Antarctica because of its higher elevation; Antarctic Peninsula has most moderate climate; warmest temperatures occur in January along the coast and average slightly below freezing

Terrain: about 98% thick continental ice sheet, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain ranges up to 4,897 meters high; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of coastline and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of the area of the continent

Natural resources: none presently exploited; coal and iron ore; chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum, and hydrocarbons have been found in small uncommercial quantities

Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; pastures 0%; meadows and forest and woodland 0%; other 100% (ice 98%, barren rock 2%)

Environment: mostly uninhabitable; katabatic (gravity) winds blow coastward from the high interior; frequent blizzards form near the foot of the plateau; cyclonic storms form over the ocean and move clockwise around the coast, as does a circumpolar ocean current; during summer more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than is received at the Equator in an equivalent period; in April 1991 it was reported that the ozone shield, which protects the Earth's surface from harmful ultraviolet radiation, had dwindled to its lowest level ever over Antarctica; subject to active volcanism (Deception Island and isolated areas of West Antarctica); other seismic activity rare and weak

Note: the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent

NOTE: The information regarding Antarctica on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Antarctica Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Antarctica Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.