It is typical for the inhabitants of our latitudes that the word "southern" is associated with something hot or at least warm. But, as it turned out, the southernmost continent has nothing to do with hot sunny beaches and girls dressed up in bikinis. In the south of the planet, as well as in its north, there is an abode of ice, snow and cold. Have you guessed which is the southernmost continent?
For some reason, mankind has always been sure that somewhere in the south there is land
At the time when the sphericity of the planet was already recognized and for this they stopped burning at the stake, even ancient scientists admitted the idea (and many of them were absolutely convinced of this) that somewhere below the planet there is some southern continent. Since the 16th century, numerous attempts have been made to find this very mainland. In pursuit of supremacy, a large number of other islands and places were discovered, which were immediately put on the map and began to be colonized or privatized. So let's say there werePhilippines, Solomon Islands, New Guinea open.
When did Antarctica let a human foot set foot on it?
But the southernmost continent was discovered only three hundred years after the start of the search - in 1820. The reception of the expedition was very cold. Instead of mountains of gold, which for some reason expected to be found in the south of the planet, people were faced with a huge amount of silent desert ice, in some places diluted with penguins.
And again people in their repertoire
Since then, conflicts have arisen over the division of new lands, several of them even with the use of weapons; there were races to explore and conquer cold lands. Many people died or experienced very terrible ordeals during the expeditions associated with frostbite and hunger.
All this led to the fact that in 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed: all actions on the division of territories were stopped, Antarctica became the continent of science. No resources are produced here - only scientific research and study related to the planet's climate and space.
What kind of weather meets its explorers every year
Which is the southernmost continent according to the nature of its weather? Beyond the southern polar circle, the conditions are such that day and night last for half a year, the angle of reflection of the sun's rays is such that heat does not linger on the surface, the temperature,typical for the mainland, lies in the range from minus 70 degrees Celsius in winter to minus 25 in summer.
South America - not the southernmost, but the wettest
Before the discovery of Antarctica, the title "The southernmost continent" rightfully belonged to South America. The distance between its extreme point and the nearest point of Antarctica is only 1000 km. This title was taken from America, but was awarded another one: South America is the wettest continent on Earth. This is due not only to the amount of precipitation, which is typical for the climate of the mainland, but also to the waters of the rivers that cut through almost the entire territory of South America. The basin of the largest rivers (Orinoco, Parana and Amazon) is approximately 10 million square kilometers, while the area of all of South America is 17 million.
And who is there at the other pole?
Sadly, the southernmost continent does not have its brother, the northern continent. Everyone knows that at the North Pole there is only the Arctic Ocean - endless desert ice, which icebreakers of expeditions periodically surf.
What is considered the extreme northern land if there is no mainland at the second pole?
The northernmost point that belongs to any mainland is Cape Morris Jessep, which is located on the island of Greenland, North America.
Its coordinates are 83 degrees 39 minutes north latitude. It's only 708 kilometers topoints of the North Pole. So, answering the question of which is the northernmost and southernmost continent, you can say that it is Antarctica and North America. Only with a few clarifications - regarding the fact that Antarctica is a continent that is entirely located beyond the Antarctic Circle, and its center practically coincides with the point of the South Pole. And North America only has the northernmost point on land. It itself is located from the equator to northern latitudes.
