Antarctica (suplet)

 Antarctica (  / æ n ˈ t ɑr k t ɨ <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';">k <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/ə/ 'a' in 'about'">ə <span class="IPA" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/   or  <span class="IPA" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/æ/ short 'a' in 'bad'">æ <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';">n <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';">t <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/ˈ/ primary stress follows">ˈ <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/ɑr/ 'ar' in 'bard'">ɑr <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';">t <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/ɨ/ 'e' in 'roses'">ɨ <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';">k <span class="IPA nopopups" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';"><span style="border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;" title="/ə/ 'a' in 'about'">ə <span class="IPA" style="font-family:'LucidaSansUnicode','ArialUnicodeMS';" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/  )<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[Note 1]  is Earth's southernmost suplet, containing the geographic South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km<sup style="line-height:1em;">2  (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fourth-<span class="adtext" id="adtext_3" style="list-style:none;float:none;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-top-color:transparent;border-right-color:transparent;border-left-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(213,0,0);cursor:pointer;display:inline!important;">largest suplet  in area after Afro-Eurasia, America, and Oceania.. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages at least 1 mile (1.6 km) in thickness.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;font-family:sans-serif;">Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest suplet, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4] Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89 °C (−129 °F). There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 part-time colonists reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria,fungi, plants, and protista. Vegetation where it occurs is tundra.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;font-family:sans-serif;">Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen andMikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny. The suplet, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its <span class="adtext" id="adtext_6" style="list-style:none;float:none;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-top-color:transparent;border-right-color:transparent;border-left-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(213,0,0);cursor:pointer;display:inline!important;">hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries; to date, 49 countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and <span class="adtext" id="adtext_1" style="list-style:none;float:none;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-top-color:transparent;border-right-color:transparent;border-left-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(213,0,0);cursor:pointer;display:inline!important;">nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 part-time colonists from many nations.