Who discovered continent Antarctica?

The race to find Antarctica sparked competition to locate the South Pole—and stoked another rivalry. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen found it on December 14, 1911. Just over a month later, Robert Falcon Scott found it, too. He turned back with disastrous results.

Who was the first person to Antarctica?

explorer Roald Amundsen
The first person to reach the South Pole was Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, said Ross MacPhee, a curator in the American Museum of Natural History in New York and author of Race To the End: Amundsen, Scott, and the Attainment of the South Pole (Sterling Publishing, 2010).

What does Artic and Antartic mean?

“Arctic” comes from the Greek arktos, “bear,” because the constellation Ursa Major, “the greater she-bear” (also known as the Big Dipper), is always visible in the northern polar sky. “Antarctic,” then, means “opposite the bear.”

Does Artic mean bear?

The word Arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, arktos. It refers to two constellations in the northern night sky: Ursa Major (Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (Little Bear), which contains Polaris, the North Star.

Who went to the Antarctic with Scott?

In the early 20th century, the race was on to reach the South Pole, with a number of explorers testing themselves in the freezing Antarctic. In 1911, Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and Norway’s Roald Amundsen both launched expeditions to reach the Pole. It would end in victory for Amundsen – and tragedy for Scott.

Why are husky dogs banned from Antarctica?

Sled dogs were used until 1992, when they were banned from Antarctica by the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty over concerns that the dogs might transfer diseases such as canine distemper to the seal population. The dogs were also inadequately fed, and eventually all of the dogs died.

Which is colder the North Pole or Antarctica?

The Short Answer: Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are cold because they don’t get any direct sunlight. However, the South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole.

Who is the president of Antarctica?

Antarctica does not have a president or prime minister. The Antarctic Treaty is a decentralised system of governance, with no executive leader.

Is anyone buried in Antarctica?

At Livingston Island, among the South Shetlands off the Antarctic Peninsula, a human skull and femur have been lying near the shore for 175 years. They are the oldest human remains ever found in Antarctica. The bones were discovered on the beach in the 1980s.

Where does the name Antarctica come from and why?

Antarctica comes from the Greek word “antarktike,” which literally means “opposite to the north.” The continent is, of course, home to the southernmost point on Earth. John George Bartholomew, a Scottish cartographer, is believed to be the first person to use “Antartica” to refer to the continent.

Where is Antarctica located in the southern hemisphere?

Antarctica (/ æ n ˈ t ɑːr t ɪ k ə / or / æ n ˈ t ɑːr k t ɪ k ə / ()) is Earth’s southernmost continent.It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.

How big is Antarctica compared to the rest of the world?

Antarctica, the world’s southernmost continent, is almost wholly covered by an ice sheet and is about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km) in size. It is divided into East Antarctica (largely composed of a high ice-covered plateau) and West Antarctica (an archipelago of ice-covered mountainous islands).

Where does the Antarctic Convergence meet the ocean?

The Antarctic Convergence is an uneven line of latitude where cold, northward-flowing Antarctic waters meet the warmer waters of the world’s ocean s. The Antarctic covers approximately 20 percent of the Southern Hemisphere. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in terms of total area.