Continent

• Antarctica is the Earth's 5th largest continent, measuring 14 million square km (5.4 million square miles).
• The ice sheet that covers almost all of Antarctica is the largest body of fresh water on earth, containing about 91% of the world's ice and 70% of the fresh water.
• If Antarctica's ice sheet were to melt, it would raise the level of the world's oceans about 70m (200 ft).
• The thickest part of the ice sheet extends about 4,800km (2980nm) (15,700 ft) into submerged basins in the rock.
• Antarctica has the greatest average elevation of any continent at 1,860m (6,100 ft). The average elevation of North America is 720m (2,300 ft).
• The highest mountain on the continent is Vinson Massif, 4,897m (16,067 ft), situated in the Ellsworth Mountains.

Weather

• The snow fall in Antarctica is so minimal that the continent has been called "the world's coldest desert". The interior receives less than 3 cm (1 inch) of precipitation a year, making it the driest continent on Earth. 
• The Antarctic dry valleys in Victoria Land are among the driest places on Earth. Some scientists believe that no rain has fallen there for two million years. Astronauts have visited the dry valleys because of their similarity to lunar landscapes. 
• Mean temperatures in the inland during the coldest month from -40°F to -94°F and in the warmest month from 5°F to -31°F. At the coasts, the temperature ranges between 5°F to -22°F in winter and about 32°F in summer. On July 21, 1983, the Soviet station, Vostok, reported a record-breaking 128.6°F below freezing.
• During winter months, low temperatures cause much of the seas around Antarctica to freeze. At maximum sea ice covers an area larger than the continent itself.
• The South Pole experiences a six month period of darkness in winter and a six month period of sunlight in summer.

Wildlife

• Antarctica is the only continent in the world with no permanent or indigenous human inhabitants. Larger than the United States, the frozen land is populated by approximately 9,000 people during the summer and fewer than 5,000 in the winter.