Antarctica is a Greek word, meaning opposite of Arctic... The majority of Antarctica is covered with ice, leaving only 0.4 % of it, not covered by ice...
Antarctica is the continent that surrounds the South Pole and that lies within the region defined by the Antarctic Circle. It occupies one tenth of the world's surface but contains nine tenths of the world's ice and, therefore, nine tenths of its fresh water.
Its area is almost 14 million square kilometres and it is formed from two blocks of rock with an area of about 8 million square kilometres each. These are covered with a cap of ice that flows slowing towards the 22 400 kilometres of coastline, reaching the sea in high ice cliffs.
Only two per cent of Antarctica is ice free and there is an estimate 30 million cubic metres of ice there with an average thickness of 2500 metres. In places, the ice is over 4000 metres thick, and it is able to hide whole mountain ranges from view. The lowest temperature ever recorded occurred in the Antarctic – minus 89 degrees Celsius, which was recorded in 1983.
