ENGLISH

1. 1Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on Earth. It's the fifth largest of the
world's seven continents. A layer of ice almost 5 kilometers (3 miles) thick covers the island
in some places. In fact, 90% of the world's ice is in Antarctica.
2The weather in Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The lowest temperature ever recorded, -
89.2 degrees Celsius (-128.6 degrees Fahrenheit), was in 1983 at the Vostok Station, an
old Russian research base. At the South Pole, the temperature varies from -35 degrees
Celsius (-31 degrees Fahrenheit) in the midsummer to -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees
Fahrenheit) in the midwinter.
3Antarctica is not only the world's coldest continent but also the driest place on Earth.
Sometimes called the world's largest desert, it gets about the same amount of rain each
year as the Sahara. Antarctic winds are the strongest on the planet, reaching up to 320
kilometers (199 miles) per hour.
4Located at the South Pole, Antarctica is the farthest south of any continent. The South
Pole gets six months of nonstop daylight from September through March. Then it gets six
months of nonstop darkness. And because it's so far south, Antarctica covers the most time
zones – all of them!
5Explorers first visited Antarctica in 1821. Then in 1899, a Norwegian explorer set up a
research station on Antarctica, and for the first time, people could live there. Now there are
about 60 research bases there, set up by many different countries. The population of
Antarctica grows from about 1,000 in the winter to about 4,000 during the summer. It has
the smallest population of any continent.
The sand dunes, the highest dunes in the world,are the biggest tourist attraction in the
Sahara.
3
Qattara Depression in Egypt's Sahara, one of the lowest points in Africa, is 133 meters
below sea level.
Start again
The Qattara Depression in Egypt's Sahara, one of the lowest points in Africa, is 133
meters below sea level.
4
Libyan Sahara the driest place in the desert, has the least amount of animal or plant life.
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The Libyan Sahara, the driest place in the desert, has the least amount of animal or plant
life.