Antarctica

Antarctica contains about 90% of the ice on Earth. Why doesn't Antarctica belong to any country? Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth. There are no other residents except the scientific personnel. It covers an area of more than 14 million square kilometres, almost twice the size of Australia.  But its size changes with the seasons. When the ice in Antarctica accumulates, it will become bigger than Russia. In the summer, when the area shrinks back to this, Antarctica was discovered around 1820 and immediately attracted the attention of many countries. Britain, France and Norway were the first to lay claim to parts of the land. In 1959, in order to protect Antarctica and prevent some countries from conducting nuclear tests on Antarctica, many countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, freezing all territorial claims, making Antarctica an area only used for scientific research. Antarctica is almost entirely covered by ice. People who visit should care for the enviroment and use the land for peaceful purposes.

南极洲包含了地球上90%的冰。 为何南极洲不属于任何国家? 南极洲是地球上最南端的大陆。 除了科考人员，无其他居民。 它的面积超过1400万平方公里，几乎有两个澳洲那么大，但是它的大小会随季节变化。 南极洲冰层积聚起来，就会变得比俄罗斯还大。 而到了夏天面积缩小就会恢复成这样，南极洲大约在1820年被发现，立即引起了许多国家的关注。 英国，法国和挪威最先对其部分土地声明主权。 1959年为了保护南极洲，并防范一些国家在南极洲上进行核试验，多国签署了《南极条约》，冻结了所有国家的领土主张，使得南极洲成为仅用于科学研究的区域。 南极洲几乎完全被冰覆盖。 参观的人应该爱护环境，和平利用土地。