Here is what you should know about Earth's southernmost continent

Aug 25, 2014 22:57 GMT  ·  By

It might not be Santa's home – or at least his work station, for that matter – but Antarctica is pretty impressive, and not just because it's Earth's southernmost continent.

The infographic below, shared with us ordinary folks by the good people at Live Science, explains what makes Antarctica pretty darn special, and will hopefully spark your interest in learning more about this continent.

Mind you, I'm not going to show up at your door and make you sit for a test once you are done checking it out. I do, however, hope that you won't just take one quick glance at it.

As detailed in the infographic, the Antarctica currently spans over approximately 5.4 million square miles (about 14 million square kilometers).

It's one of the coldest places on our planet, and it has no indigenous human population. Still, it accommodates for several researchers stations, and is visited by thousands of researchers and cold enthusiasts yearly.

The location of these research stations is detailed in the map included in the infographic. As one can easily notice, most of them sit very close to the coastline.

This is because weather conditions in this part of the world are fairly harsh all year round, and venturing too far into this frozen landscape is by no means what some would call a very inspired idea.

Locator map and guide to Antarctica. Source:LiveScience