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[[File:Citizen-Tyrolin-Puxty.jpg|thumb|300px|left]]
[[File:Antarctica (orthographic projection).png|250px|left]]
'''Citizen's Day''', August 2nd, is a [[Public Holidays in Westarctica|public holiday]] in [[Westarctica]] that celebrates the citizens of the nation.
'''[[Antarctica]]''' is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic [[South Pole]] and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the [[Antarctic Circle]], and is surrounded by the [[Southern Ocean]]. At 14,000,000 km2, it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by [[ice]] that averages 1.9 kilometers in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]].


In 2016, Westarctica became an extremely popular stop for participants of the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen (GISHWHES, pronounced ''gish-wes''), an annual week-long competitive media scavenger hunt held each August. That year, one of the items participants were required to collect was a citizenship certificate from an unrecognized country. During the last week of July through the first week of August, [[Grand Duke Travis]] personally processed over 1,000 citizenship applications, creating a personalized citizenship certificate for each new citizen. The extraordinary effort took him between four and eight hours each night.
Antarctica has no indigenous population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. However, belief in the existence of a ''Terra Australis''—a vast continent in the far south of the globe to "balance" the northern lands of Europe, Asia and North Africa—had existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world. Even in the late 17th century, after explorers had found that South America and Australia were not part of the fabled "Antarctica", geographers believed that the continent was much larger than its actual size.


After seeing how many of new citizens went on to become members of the [[Hereditary Nobility of Westarctica|Hereditary Nobility]] as well as the vast number posting pictures of their citizenship certificates on social media, Grand Duke Travis felt compelled to celebrate and recognize their love of Westarctica by creating a special day to recognize all citizens. As the impetus for the creation of the holiday, the GISHers continue to hold a special place among the citizen rolls of the nation. '''([[Citizen's Day|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''

Latest revision as of 05:48, 2 May 2025

Antarctica (orthographic projection).png

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 km2, it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 kilometers in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica has no indigenous population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. However, belief in the existence of a Terra Australis—a vast continent in the far south of the globe to "balance" the northern lands of Europe, Asia and North Africa—had existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world. Even in the late 17th century, after explorers had found that South America and Australia were not part of the fabled "Antarctica", geographers believed that the continent was much larger than its actual size.

(Full Article...)