Antarctica
n. continent located at the South Pole | ||||
Antarctica definition was found in categories: Language, Idioms & Slang(1) Science & Technology(2) Arts & Humanities(1) Government(1) Encyclopedia(1)
| WordNet 2.0 |
Noun
1. an extremely cold continent at the south pole almost entirely below the Antarctic Circle; covered by an ice cap up to 13,000 feet deep
(synonym) Antarctic continent
(hypernym) continent
(part-holonym) Antarctic, Antarctic Zone, South Frigid Zone
(part-meronym) Coats Land
| CIA World Factbook 2005 |
Background
Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.
Map of Antarctica
More about Antarctica:
| Country Data Codes |
AQ (Internet),
AQ (ISO 3166),
ATA (ISO 3166),
AY (FIPS 10-4)
| JM Latin-English Dictionary |
ADJ
southern| antarctic
| Area Code International |
Country Code-672
| Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia |
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