sheet, with average
elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain ranges up to 4,897
meters high; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria
Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and Ross Island on
McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of coastline
and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of the area of the continent

_#_Natural resources: none presently exploited; coal and iron ore;
chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum, and hydrocarbons have been
found in small uncommercial quantities

_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; pastures 0%;
meadows and forest and woodland 0%; other 100% (ice 98%, barren rock
2%)

_#_Environment: mostly uninhabitable; katabatic (gravity) winds blow
coastward from the high interior; frequent blizzards form near the foot
of the plateau; cyclonic storms form over the ocean and move clockwise
around the coast, as does a circumpolar ocean current; during
summer more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than
is received at the Equator in an equivalent period; in April 1991 it was
reported that the ozone shield, which protects the Earth's surface from
harmful ultraviolet radiation, had dwindled to its lowest level ever over
Antarctica; subject to active volcanism (Deception Island and isolated
areas of West Antarctica); other seismic activity rare and weak

_#_Note: the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent

_*_People
_#_Population: no indigenous inhabitants; staffing of research
stations varies seasonally;

Summer (January) population--4,120; Argentina 207, Australia 268,
Belgium 13, Brazil 80, Chile 256, China NA, Ecuador NA, Finland 16,
France 78, Germany 32, Greenpeace 12, India 60, Italy 210, Japan 59,
South Korea 14, Netherlands 10, NZ 264, Norway 23, Peru 39, Poland NA,
South Africa 79, Spain 43, Sweden 10, UK 116, Uruguay NA, US 1,666,
USSR 565 (1989-90);

Winter (July) population--1,066 total; Argentina 150, Australia
71, Brazil 12, Chile 73, China NA, France 33, Germany 19, Greenpeace 5,
India 21, Japan 38, South Korea 14, NZ 11, Poland NA, South Africa 12,
UK 69, Uruguay NA, US 225, USSR 313 (1989-90);

Year-round stations--42 total; Argentina 6, Australia 3, Brazil 1,
Chile 3, China 2, France 1, Germany 2, Greenpeace 1, India 2, Japan 2,
South Korea 1, NZ 1, Poland 1, South Africa 1, UK 5, Uruguay 1, US 3,
USSR 6 (1990-91);

Summer only stations--34 total; Argentina 1, Aus