Antarctica is the south polar continent

Antarctica continent

Antarctica is the south polar continent. It is surrounded by an ice-filled ring of ocean waters containing scattered ice-covered Island groups. It is a vast continent of 6 million Square miles in area. It has 14,000 miles of coastline, mainly to high ice cliffs. There is no permanent population anywhere in this continent. Outward- blowing winds, almost of hurricane force, prevail throughout the continent. Blizzards are very common.

Since the 18^th century, there have been many expeditions to Antarctica. The first expedition to come close to Antarctica took place from to 1772 to 1775 when James cook sailed around the continent and came within 100 miles of it. Land was seen for the first time in 1820 when British and US seal hunters reached the Antarctica peninsula. In 1839-40 US Navy expedition mapped 1500 miles along the coast of East Antarctica. The first recorded landing on Antarctica was on Cape Adare in 1895, and the first group to spend a winter on the continent did so at Cape Adare during the period from March 1898 to March 1899.

The struggle to reach the inland began with the first expedition by Robert Scott of Great Britain in 1901-04. But the first person to reach the Pole was Ronald Amundsen of Norway on December 14, 1911. On another Antarctic expedition Scott arrived at the Pole just a month later. He died on March 29, 1912 trying to return to the coast.

These early expeditions relied on sail power, dog power and human power for their transportation. The mechanical age arrived on November 26, 1928 when an American expedition made an aeroplane flight over parts of the continent. Rear Admiral Richard Byrd of the United States commanded the largest single expedition ever made aero planes and helicopters and thousands of men surveys almost all the way around the continent.