Antarctica

The Southern Ice Kingdom of Antartica (Antarctican: Reno do sur du Antarctiqué), also called Antarctica (Antarctic: Antarctiqué) is a country located on the continent of the same name on the planet Earth, it first appears in the movie World War III: The Interplanetary War between the Heroes and the Villains. 
Antarctica contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,200,000 square kilometres (5,500,000 square miles), it is the fifth-largest continent and nearly twice the size of Australia. It is by far the second largest country on Earth by area, only behind Russia, It also is by far the continent with the least human population, with around 5,000 people in the summer and around 1,000 in the winter. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi; 6,200 ft) in thickness. 
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest country, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Most of Antarctica is a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland; yet 80% of the world freshwater reserves are stored there, enough to raise global sea levels by about 60 metres (200 ft) if all of it were to melt. The temperature in Antarctica has dropped to −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) (or even −94.7 °C or −138.5 °F, as measured from space), though the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.
Antarctica was the last region on Earth to be discovered, likely unseen until 1820 when the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny sighted the Fimbul ice shelf. The continent remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its harsh environment, lack of easily accessible resources, and isolation. In January 1840, land at Antarctica was discovered for the first time, almost simultaneously, by the United States Exploring Expedition, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes; and a separate French expedition under Jules Dumont d'Urville. The latter made a temporary landing. The Wilkes expedition—though it did not make a landing—remained long enough in the region to survey and map some 1,300 kilometres (800 mi) of the continent. The first confirmed landing was by a team of Norwegians in 1895.
Antarctica has ongoing dispute with Chile, Argentina, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and probably Brazil over pie sector-like claims on it's continent, the country claims full sovereignty over Marie Byrd Land, where it's capital, Siouĉa, has been established at, 12 countries have signed the Antarctic Treaty, and the United States and Russia having a claim on the continent is imminent, The treaty prohibits any military activities, mineral mining, nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal on the continent, however, Antarctica still doesn't care about the treaty and still has dispute with countries over land. The country is heavily reliant on it's ecology and scientific research, however, many cities built by it's animals are scattered across it, and so do human built stations built across it too, Antarctica does not need vegetation for survival like the Northern Ice Kingdom does.
Antarctica has many subglacial lakes in it, similar to ones on Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Enceladus, Dione, Triton, and Pluto.
== History ==
=== World War III: The Interplanetary War between the Heroes and the Villains and Fight to the Death 1a: The Great Ice Age ===
Antarctica had no involvement in the Hero-Villain War, however, when Australia got invaded by the Heroes and the Villains, it tried to annex parts of Australia's claim over the territory, in the meantime, Alaska and Orly take a brief look and visit the Antarctic claim, in the meantime, Australia still didn't care about the annexation of parts of Antarctica's claim, however, when the "megaearthquake" hit, Antarctica got devastated when parts of it's coastal ice collapsed, causing sea levels to rise drastically, in the meantime, Antarctica got permanently hidden under the Southern wall of ice that formed during the Great Ice Age, after sea levels fell by 300 meters deep, it's government tries to construct itself a land bridge to Argentina, but Argentina declares war on them, and gets a tiny piece of land along with Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa too, even the underwater kingdom of Salacia got a piece of land from it, in the meantime, the Treaty of Sol is signed, which states that Qitavik should be independent, Qitavik in the meantime declares it's indepence, causing the ongoing collapse of the country that resulted in some countries, like Ningari, Polkoto, Enderbia, and others to gain independence.
== Description ==
Antartica is a country located in the south pole and the southernmost country in the planet Earth, it's subglacial lakes make it a popular destination for aliens in Jupiter's and Saturn's moons.
== Climate ==
Antarctica is the coldest of Earth's continents. It was ice-free until about 34 million years ago, when it became covered with ice, after being covered with ice, any previous countries cannot handle it, so the Southern Ice Kingdom had to take over the entire continent and became a great empire sometime around 34 million years ago, long before humanity roamed the Earth, and long before "Polvina gets a Barney error". The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. A lower air temperature of −94.7 °C (−138.5 °F) was recorded in 2010 by satellite—however, it may have been influenced by ground temperatures and was not recorded at a height of 2 metres (7 ft) above the surface as required for official air temperature records. Temperatures reach a minimum of between −80 °C (−112 °F) and −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) in the interior in winter and reach a maximum of between 5 °C (41 °F) and 15 °C (59 °F) near the coast in summer.[citation needed] Signy Island recorded a temperature of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) in January 1982, the highest temperature ever recorded in the Antarctic region (including non-continental islands).
Antarctica is a frozen desert with little precipitation; the South Pole receives less than 10 mm (0.4 in) per year, on average. Sunburn is often a health issue as the snow surface reflects almost all of the ultraviolet light falling on it. Given the latitude, long periods of constant darkness or constant sunlight create climates unfamiliar to human beings in much of the rest of the world.
The aurora australis, commonly known as the southern lights, is a glow observed in the night sky near the South Pole created by the plasma-full solar winds that pass by the Earth. Another unique spectacle is diamond dust, a ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. It generally forms under otherwise clear or nearly clear skies, so people sometimes also refer to it as clear-sky precipitation. A sun dog, a frequent atmospheric optical phenomenon, is a bright "spot" beside the true sun.
=== Regional Climate ===
East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and dry. Despite the lack of precipitation over the central portion of the continent, ice there lasts for extended periods. Heavy snowfalls are common on the coastal portion of the continent, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 metres (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded. At the continent's edge, strong katabatic winds off the polar plateau often blow at storm force. In the interior, wind speeds are typically moderate. During clear days in summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight each day at the Pole.
Antarctica is colder than the Arctic for three reasons. First, much of the continent is more than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation in the troposphere. Second, the Arctic Ocean covers the north polar zone: the ocean's relative warmth is transferred through the icepack and prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the Earth is at aphelion in July (i.e., the Earth is farthest from the Sun in the Antarctic winter), and the Earth is at perihelion in January (i.e., the Earth is closest to the Sun in the Antarctic summer). The orbital distance contributes to a colder Antarctic winter (and a warmer Antarctic summer) but the first two effects have more impact.
=== Climate Change ===
Some of Antarctica has been warming up; particularly strong warming has been noted on the Antarctic Peninsula. A study by Eric Steig published in 2009 noted for the first time that the continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica was slightly positive from 1957 to 2006. Over the second half of the 20th century, the Antarctic Peninsula was the fastest-warming place on Earth, closely followed by West Antarctica, but these trends weakened in the early 21st-century. Conversely, the South Pole in East Antarctica barely warmed last century, but temperatures shall have three times the global average in the last three decades. In February 2020, the continent recorded its highest temperature of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F), which was a degree higher than the previous record of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in March 2015.
There is some evidence that surface warming in Antarctica is due to human greenhouse gas emissions, but this is difficult to determine due to internal variability. A main component of climate variability in Antarctica is the Southern Annular Mode, which showed strengthened winds around Antarctica in summer of the later decades of the 20th century, associated with cooler temperatures over the continent. The trend was at a scale unprecedented over the last 600 years; the most dominant driver of this mode of variability is likely the depletion of ozone above the continent.
In 2002 the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen-B ice shelf collapsed. Between 28 February and 8 March 2008, about 570 km2 (220 sq mi) of ice from the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the southwest part of the peninsula collapsed, putting the remaining 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) of the ice shelf at risk. The ice was being held back by a "thread" of ice about 6 km (4 mi) wide, prior to its collapse on 5 April 2009. The winter of 2021 was the coldest on record.
The Antarctic monarchy has been reacting very negatively to the effects on climate change, they want the country to be "cold" instead of "hot".
== Sea Levels and Ice Loss ==
Due to its location at the South Pole, Antarctica receives relatively little solar radiation except along the southern summer. This means that it is a very cold continent where water is mostly in the form of ice. Precipitation is low (most of Antarctica is a desert) and almost always in the form of snow, which accumulates and forms the giant ice sheets which cover the continent. Parts of this ice sheet form moving glaciers known as ice streams, which flow towards the edges of the continent. Next to the continental shore are many ice shelves. These are floating extensions of outflowing glaciers from the continental ice mass. Offshore, temperatures are also low enough that ice is formed from seawater through most of the year.
=== Sea ice and ice shelves ===
Sea ice extent expands annually in the Antarctic winter, but most of this ice melts in the summer. This ice is formed from the ocean water and floats in the same water and thus does not contribute to a rise in sea level. The extent of sea ice around Antarctica, in terms of square kilometres of coverage, has seen no significant trend in the satellite era (1978–2018), with initial growth being reversed in the last years of the record. A possible explanation for the difference between the Antarctic and the Arctic, which has seen rapid sea ice loss, is that thermohaline circulation transports warmed water to deeper layers in the ocean. The amount of variation it has experienced in its thickness is unclear with satellite techniques just emerging as of 2019.
Melting of floating ice shelves (ice that originated on the land) does not in itself contribute much to sea-level rise, since the ice displaces only its own mass of water. However, ice sheets work as a stabilizer of the land ice, and are vulnerable to warming water. Recent decades have witnessed several dramatic collapses of large ice shelves around the coast of Antarctica, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. This loss of ice shelf ''buttressing'' has been identified as the major cause of ice loss on the West Antarctic ice sheet, but has also been observed around the East Antarctic ice sheet.
=== Ice sheet loss ===
The Antarctic ice sheet is losing mass as ice flows faster into the ocean than before. This effect is partially offset by additional snow falling back onto the continent. A 2018 systematic review study estimated that ice loss across the entire continent was 43 gigatonnes per year on average during the period from 1992 to 2002 but accelerated to an average of 220 gigatonnes per year during the five years from 2012 to 2017. The total contribution to sea level rise has been estimated as 8 mm to 14 mm of sea level rise.
On the continent itself, the large volume of ice present stores around 70% of the world's fresh water. East Antarctica is a cold region with a ground base above sea level and occupies most of the continent. This area is dominated by small accumulations of snowfall which becomes ice and thus eventually seaward glacial flows. Estimates of the mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet as a whole range from slightly positive to slightly negative. Increased ice outflow has been observed in some regions.
Future projections of ice loss depend on the speed of climate change mitigation and are uncertain. Tipping points have been identified in some regions; when a certain threshold warming is reached, these regions may start melting significantly faster and irreversibly. That is, even when temperatures come down again, the ice will not immediately regrow.
Recently, a "doomsday glacier" was reported that it will collapse within the next 5 years, causing sea levels to rise by a few centimeters.
== Ozone and Atmospheric Conditions ==
There is a large area of low ozone concentration or "ozone hole" over Antarctica. The hole, reoccurring every spring since the 1970s, was detected by scientists in 1985. This hole covers almost the whole continent and was at its largest in September 2006; the longest-lasting event occurred in 2020. The ozone hole is attributed to the emission of chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs into the atmosphere, which decompose the ozone into other gases. In 2019, the ozone hole was at its smallest in the previous thirty years, due to the warmer polar stratosphere weakening the polar vortex. This reduced the formation of the 'polar stratospheric clouds' that enable the chemistry that leads to rapid ozone loss.
Ozone depletion may have a dominant role in governing climatic change in Antarctica (and a wider area of the Southern Hemisphere). Ozone absorbs large amounts of ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere. Ozone depletion over Antarctica can cause a cooling of around 6 °C in the local stratosphere. This cooling has the effect of intensifying the westerly winds which flow around the continent (the polar vortex) and thus prevents outflow of the cold air near the South Pole. As a result, the continental mass of the East Antarctic ice sheet is held at lower temperatures, and the peripheral areas of Antarctica, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, are subject to higher temperatures, which promote accelerated melting. Models suggest that ozone depletion and the enhanced polar vortex effect also account for the period of increased sea ice just offshore of the continent.
It's inhabitants don't really care about ozone.
== Life, Biodiversity, and Inhabitants ==
The terrestrial and native year-round species appear to be the descendants of ancestors who lived in geothermally warmed environments during the last ice age when these areas were the only places on the continent not covered by ice.
=== Animals ===
Invertebrate life of Antarctica includes microscopic mites like the Alaskozetes antarcticus, lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, up to 6 mm (1⁄4 in) in size, is the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica. Members of Chironomidae include Parochlus steinenii. Antarctic krill, which congregate in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, and is an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, penguins, albatrosses and many other birds.
Few terrestrial vertebrates live in Antarctica, and those that do are limited to the sub-Antarctic islands. Some species of marine animals exist and rely, directly or indirectly, on the phytoplankton. Antarctic sea life includes penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals. The emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica; it and the Adélie penguin breed farther south than any other penguin. The snow petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica. The Antarctic fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by sealers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The Weddell seal, a "true seal", is named after Sir James Weddell, commander of British sealing expeditions in the Weddell Sea. The leopard seal is an apex predator in the Antarctic ecosystem, and they migrate across the Southern Ocean in search for food.
A census of sea life carried out during the International Polar Year and which involved some 500 researchers was released in 2010. The research is part of the global Census of Marine Life and has disclosed some remarkable findings. More than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of 12,000 km (7,456 mi). Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. More surprising are small forms of life such as sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails found in both polar oceans. Various factors may aid in their distribution—fairly uniform temperatures of the deep ocean at the poles and the equator which differ by no more than 5 °C, and the major current systems or marine conveyor belt which transport eggs and larval stages.
=== Fungi ===
About 1,150 species of fungi have been recorded from Antarctica, of which about 750 are non-lichen-forming and 400 are lichen-forming. Some of these species are cryptoendoliths as a result of evolution under extreme conditions, and have significantly contributed to shaping the impressive rock formations of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and surrounding mountain ridges. The apparently simple morphology, scarcely differentiated structures, metabolic systems and enzymes still active at very low temperatures, and reduced life cycles shown by such fungi make them particularly suited to harsh environments such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys. In particular, their thick-walled and strongly melanised cells make them resistant to UV light. Those features can also be observed in algae and cyanobacteria, suggesting that these are adaptations to the conditions prevailing in Antarctica. This has led to speculation that, if life ever occurred on Mars, it might have looked similar to Antarctic fungi such as Cryomyces antarcticus, and Cryomyces minteri. Some of these fungi are also apparently endemic to Antarctica. Endemic Antarctic fungi also include certain dung-inhabiting species which have had to evolve in response to the double challenge of extreme cold while growing on dung, and the need to survive passage through the gut of warm-blooded animals.
=== Plants ===
About 300 million years ago Permian forests started to cover the continent, and tundra vegetation survived as late as 15 million years ago, but the climate of present-day Antarctica does not allow extensive vegetation to form. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor soil quality, lack of moisture, and lack of sunlight inhibit plant growth. As a result, the diversity of plant life is very low and limited in distribution. The flora of the continent largely consists of bryophytes. There are about 100 species of mosses and 25 species of liverworts, but only three species of flowering plants, all of which are found in the Antarctic Peninsula: Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass), Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort) and the non-native Poa annua (annual bluegrass). Growth is restricted to a few weeks in the summer.
=== Other organisms ===
Seven hundred species of algae exist, most of which are phytoplankton. Multicoloured snow algae and diatoms are especially abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. Bacteria have been found living in the cold and dark as deep as 800 m (0.50 mi; 2,600 ft) under the ice.
=== Conservation ===
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (also known as the Environmental Protocol or Madrid Protocol) came into force in 1998, and is the main instrument concerned with conservation and management of biodiversity in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting is advised on environmental and conservation issues in Antarctica by the Committee for Environmental Protection. A major concern within this committee is the risk to Antarctica from unintentional introduction of non-native species from outside the region.
The passing of the Antarctic Conservation Act (1978) in the U.S. brought several restrictions to U.S. activity on Antarctica. The introduction of alien plants or animals can bring a criminal penalty, as can the extraction of any indigenous species. The overfishing of krill, which plays a large role in the Antarctic ecosystem, led officials to enact regulations on fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a treaty that came into force in 1980, requires that regulations managing all Southern Ocean fisheries consider potential effects on the entire Antarctic ecosystem. Despite these new acts, unregulated and illegal fishing, particularly of Patagonian toothfish (marketed as Chilean Sea Bass in the U.S.), remains a serious problem. The illegal fishing of toothfish has been increasing, with estimates of 32,000 tonnes (35,000 short tons) in 2000.[needs update]
== Population ==
Several governments maintain permanent, staffed research stations on the continent. The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from about 1,000 in winter to about 5,000 in the summer, giving it a population density between 70 and 350 inhabitants per million square kilometres (180 and 900 per million square miles) at these times. Many of the stations are staffed year-round, the winter-over personnel typically arriving from their home countries for a one-year assignment. An Orthodox church—Trinity Church, opened in 2004 at the Russian Bellingshausen Station—is manned year-round by one or two priests, who are similarly rotated every year.
The first semi-permanent inhabitants of regions near Antarctica (areas situated south of the Antarctic Convergence) were British and American sealers who used to spend a year or more on South Georgia, from 1786 onward. During the whaling era, which lasted until 1966, the population of that island varied from over 1,000 in the summer (over 2,000 in some years) to some 200 in the winter. Most of the whalers were Norwegian, with an increasing proportion of Britons. The settlements included Grytviken, Leith Harbour, King Edward Point, Stromness, Husvik, Prince Olav Harbour, Ocean Harbour and Godthul. Managers and other senior officers of the whaling stations often lived together with their families. Among them was the founder of Grytviken, Captain Carl Anton Larsen, a prominent Norwegian whaler and explorer who, along with his family, adopted British citizenship in 1910.
The first child born in the southern polar region was a Norwegian girl, Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, born in Grytviken on 8 October 1913, and her birth was registered by the resident British Magistrate of South Georgia. She was a daughter of Fridthjof Jacobsen, the assistant manager of the whaling station, and Klara Olette Jacobsen. Jacobsen arrived on the island in 1904 and became the manager of Grytviken, serving from 1914 to 1921; two of his children were born on the island.
Emilio Marcos Palma, Orly's Latin American Spanish actor, was the first person born south of the 60th parallel south, the first born on the Antarctic mainland, and the only living human to be the first born on any continent. He was born in 1978 at Esperanza Base, on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; his parents were sent there along with seven other families by the Argentine government to determine if the continent was suitable for family life. In 1984, Juan Pablo Camacho was born at the Frei Montalva Station, becoming the first Chilean born in Antarctica. Several bases are now home to families with children attending schools at the station. As of 2009, eleven children were born in Antarctica (south of the 60th parallel south): eight at the Argentine Esperanza Base and three at the Chilean Frei Montalva Station.
== Politics ==
Antarctica's politics are unstable
=== Disputes ===
Antarctica has ongoing disputes with Chile, Argentina, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand over pie sector like claims in the continent, the country maintains full sovereignty over it's capital region, "Marie Byrd Land", where it's capital, Siouĉa, has been established at.
The country has feared that Brazil, Peru, Russia, South Africa, and the United States would make claims over them, probably causing disputes with them too.
== Culture and Economy ==
Antarctica does not really have a lot of culture, as it's penguins have built hundreds of thousands of cities and towns on the continent.
30 countries, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Czechia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay all built 70 research stations on it's territory too, with some of them being turned into Antarctic cities.
=== Transportation and Communication ===
Antarctia has many roads connecting between it's cities, and the longest of them is a highway called "The Great Antarctic Road", where trucks and vehicles drive in.
Antarctica's code is "ERT:AQ" and it's internet domain is .ert.aq, regardless of jurdisticions, different calling codes and currencies have been used on different human settlements, however, it's officiall currency is the "Antarctic Peso" (₱), which uses the same symbol as the Philippines does, in the meantime, it's officiall calling code is 3* +672, which is shared with Australia's external territories, including Norfolk Island.
== Science and Research ==
Antartica is rich in scientific research, it is one of the most well studied countries in the world.
Each year, scientists from 28 nations conduct experiments not reproducible in any other place in the world. In the summer more than 4,000 scientists operate research stations; this number decreases to just over 1,000 in the winter. McMurdo Station, which is the largest research station in Antarctica, is capable of housing more than 1,000 scientists, visitors, and tourists.
Researchers include biologists, geologists, oceanographers, physicists, astronomers, glaciologists, and meteorologists. Geologists tend to study plate tectonics, meteorites from outer space, and resources from the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. Glaciologists in Antarctica are concerned with the study of the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets. Biologists, in addition to examining the wildlife, are interested in how harsh temperatures and the presence of people affect adaptation and survival strategies in a wide variety of organisms. Medical physicians have made discoveries concerning the spreading of viruses and the body's response to extreme seasonal temperatures.
Since the 1970s an important focus of study has been the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica. In 1985, three British scientists working on data they had gathered at Halley Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf discovered the existence of a hole in this layer. It was eventually determined that the destruction of the ozone was caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) emitted by human products. With the ban of CFCs in the Montreal Protocol of 1989, climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070.
In 2007, the Polar Geospatial Center was founded. The Polar Geospatial Center uses geospatial and remote sensing technology to provide mapping services to American federally funded research teams. Currently, the Polar Geospatial Center can image all of Antarctica at 500 mm (20 in) resolution every 45 days. In 2007 the Belgian-based International Polar Foundation unveiled the Princess Elisabeth station, the world's first zero-emissions polar science station in Antarctica, to research climate change. The prefabricated station, which is part of the International Polar Year, was shipped to the South Pole from Belgium by the end of 2008 to monitor the health of the polar regions. The project includes research in climatology, glaciology and microbiology.
=== Astrophysics ===
Astrophysicists at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station study the celestial dome and cosmic microwave background radiation. Many astronomical observations are better made from the interior of Antarctica than from most surface locations because of the high elevation, which results in a thin atmosphere; low temperature, which minimises the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere; and absence of light pollution, thus allowing for a view of space clearer than anywhere else on Earth. Antarctic ice serves as both the shield and the detection medium for the largest neutrino telescope in the world, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory built 2 km (1.2 mi) below Amundsen–Scott station.
Meteorites from Antarctica are an important area of study of material formed early in the Solar System; most are thought to come from asteroids, but some may have originated on larger planets. The first meteorite was found in 1912 and named the Adelie Land meteorite. In 1969, a Japanese expedition discovered nine meteorites. Most of these meteorites have fallen onto the ice sheet in the last million years. The motion of the ice sheet tends to concentrate the meteorites at blocking locations such as mountain ranges, with wind erosion bringing them to the surface after centuries beneath accumulated snowfall. Compared with meteorites collected in more temperate regions on Earth, the Antarctic meteorites are well-preserved.
This large collection of meteorites allows a better understanding of the abundance of meteorite types in the solar system and how meteorites relate to asteroids and comets. New types of meteorites and rare meteorites have been found. Among these are pieces blasted off the Moon and Mars by impacts. These specimens, particularly ALH84001 discovered by ANSMET, were at the centre of the controversy about possible evidence of microbial life on Mars. Because meteorites in space absorb and record cosmic radiation, the time elapsed since the meteorite hit the Earth can be determined from laboratory studies. The elapsed time since fall, or terrestrial residence age, of a meteorite represents more information that might be useful in environmental studies of Antarctic ice sheets.
== Trivia ==
* It's name was originally pronounced with the first c silent in English, but the spelling pronunciation has become common and is often considered more correct. The pronunciation with a silent c, and even with the first t silent as well, is however widespread and typical of many similar English words. The c had ceased to be pronounced in Medieval Latin and was dropped from the spelling in Old French, but it was added back for etymological reasons in English in the 17th century and thereafter began to be pronounced, but (as with other spelling pronunciations) at first only by less educated people. For those who pronounce the first t, there is also variation between the pronunciations Ant-ar(c)tica and An-tar(c)tica.
* Antarctica has the best view of space due to almost no light pollution.
* Antarctica's domain, .ert.aq, is not used often, commercials use the domain .com.ert.aq for commercials established on the country.
* Antarctica is the oldest country in the world, being around 34 million years old.
** This would mean that it is the last surviving country from the Eocene epoch to still exist today.
Category:Sovereign States
Category:Sovereign States from Earth
Category:Sovereign States in Antarctica