Antarctica’s
continental landmass covers about 12.4 million square kilometres, although
the permanent ice sheet extends it to more than 14 million square kilometres,
making it the fifth largest continent, greater in size than Europe, and
one and a half times the size of the United States. The actual size of
the continent is never the same due to the ice cap, which varies with climatic
changes. The areas that escape from the permanent ice cover are the Antarctic
Peninsula, the highest of the Transantarctic Mountains and smaller areas
near the coast. These are therefore the most explored regions of the frozen
continent.