20 Facts: 1. Antarctica has a surface of 13,661,000 sq km (5,247,542 sq miles), which is about the same size as the United States and Mexico... combined!
2. Although Antarctica holds 90% of all the world's ice, and therefore 70% of its freshwater, it is the driest of all continents and the largest desert on Earth.
3. The coldest temperature on Earth, -89*C (-128.6*F) was recorded at Vostok station on July 21st, 1983.
4. In June, during the long Antarctic winter, there is 24-hour darkness. And in December, in the short Antarctic summer, there is 24-hour daylight.
5. No other continent has as high an average elevation as Antarctica.
6. The Vinson Massif, located in the Ellsworth Mountains, is the highest elevation, with its summit, Mt. Vinson rising 4,892 meters (16,050 feet) above sea level.
7. The largest glacier in the world is Lambert Glacier, located in East Antarctica. It is 96 km (60 mi) wide and over 400 km (250 mi) long.
8. One of the biggest icebergs that ever broke off the Antarctic ice shelf was 295km (183 mi) long and 37 km (23 mi) wide.
9. Antarctica has no official language, no capital, and no currency.
10. Antarctica has no native population; before the 20th century nobody inhabited the continent.
11. Antarctica has no permanent residents. The maximum population of Antarctica during the summer is around 4,000 people, which is reduced to 1,000 in the winter.
12. The Argentine Orcadas Station, on the Orkney Islands, is the oldest research station, continuously in operation since 1904.
13. The first wedding in Antarctica took place in February 1978, at Argentina's Esperanza station.
14. The first tourist ships left for Antarctica in the 1960s.
15. The Antarctic Treaty was signed on December 1st, 1959 and came into force on June 23rd, 1961.
16. Antartica is the only home in the world for the Emperor penguin, which breeds during the winter. (how ridiculous is that, breeding in the winter, psh)
17. Many Antarctica sea creatures, like the ice fish, have an "antifreeze" substance in their bloodstream which enables them to survive in extreme weather conditions.
18. The Southern giant petrel, the Chatham albatross, the Southern Right whale, and the Blue whale are some of the endangered Antarctic species.
19. The name krill comes from the Norwegian word for "young fry of fish". The Antarctic krill has an estimated collective weight of over 500 million tons, about twice as humans.
20. The largest land animal in Antarctica is an insect, a wingless midge, less than 1.3 cm (o.5 in) as seen in Antarctica Log Book; Velazquez, Aranda
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