Antarctica
Capital, major cities, population, maps, climate, landscapes and landmarks of Antarctica, in Antarctica.
Overview
Antarctica is a country or area in Antarctic. It covers about 14,000,000 km² (5,405,428 sq mi), the 2nd largest of the 250 countries and areas in our atlas.
The highest point is Vinson Massif at 4,892 m (16,050 ft).
Clocks run on UTC-03:00, UTC+00:00, UTC+03:00, UTC+05:00 and more.
Where is Antarctica?
Highlighted shape and city dots (green = major cities). Map data: Natural Earth (public domain); shapes are simplified and do not represent any position on boundaries.
Climate
Antarctica has a ice cap climate (Köppen EF). The warmest month is usually Dec, with average highs near -27°C (-17°F); the coolest nights come in Jul at about -63°C (-81°F). Around 62 mm (2 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.
Fun geography facts
- Antarctica is the 2nd largest country or area by land and water area in our atlas.
- It spans 8 different UTC offsets.
- Its centre lies far from the equator, at about 90° S, near or inside the polar circle.
- It lies in the Southern Hemisphere, so summer falls in December, January and February.
- Antarctica gets about 62 mm of precipitation a year (ice cap climate).
More in Antarctic
- Country names, codes, languages, currencies, area: mledoze/countries (ODbL), the dataset behind REST Countries
- Population: World Bank (CC BY 4.0), else GeoNames
- Cities, time zones, elevations: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
- Geography and landmarks: Wikidata Q51 (CC0)
- Climate: NASA POWER 2001-2025 climatology
- Map: Natural Earth (public domain)
Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources. Spot an error? Email hello@fireempireshop.com.