A Special Place Moonrise over Matherway Island, viewed from Petersen Island near Casey Station - Photo by Grant Dixon Antarctica has no peer as a wilderness.
Humans can exist there only with outside support.
The region's character derives from its unique geographical configuration and history. It is centred on the South Pole and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, which links the world's major oceans and is a major influence on their circulation. Antarctica and Australia are the only continents entirely within the Southern Hemisphere. Driest, coldest, windiest, highest Antarctica is the driest continent on earth, with the amount of moisture received by the polar plateau comparable to that falling on the world's hot deserts. It is the coldest continent - the lowest temperature ever recorded was minus 89.6 degrees C at the Russian station of Vostok in 1983.