Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being nearly twice the size of Australia, and has an area of 5,500,000 sq mi. Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).Antarctica is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and has the highest average elevation.
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It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen there, which if melted would raise global sea levels by over 60 metres During the summer months 5,000 people reside at research stations, a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Antarctica is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System.
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antarctica
