ANTARCTICA MARCH 23 Antarctica, the world's coldest, windiest, and driest continent , is primarily covered in ice, holding about 90% of the world's ice and 70% of its fresh water. It's a vast, remote region crucial for scientific research and plays a vital role in global climate and ocean systems. Antarctica ( / æ n ˈ t ɑːr k t ɪ k ə / ⓘ ) [ note 1 ] is Earth 's southernmost and least-populated continent . Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole . Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe , and has an area of 14,200,000 km 2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet , with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi). Antarctica is, on average, the colde...
