Antarctica is a continent encompassing the southern extremity of Earth, and containing the Earth's South Pole. It is surrounded by the Southern Ocean and divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains. It is considered to be the coldest, driest, windiest, and highest (on average) continent on Earth, and 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. There are no permanent human residents and only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, lichens, and hundreds of types of algae. The first commonly accepted sighting of the continent occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. Antarctica is not under the political sovereignty of any nation, although seven countries (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) maintain territorial claims. Most other countries do not recognize these claims, and the claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom all overlap. Human activity on the continent is regulated by the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in 1959 by 12 countries and prohibits any military activity, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4000 scientists of many different nationalities and research interests. (continued...)
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