Difference between revisions of "Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured 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.

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-[[File:Grand_Duke_Travis.jpg|200px|left]]
+[[File:Antarctica (orthographic projection).png|250px|left]]
-His Royal Highness, '''[[Grand Duke Travis]]''' is the founder and current [[Grand Duke of Westarctica|Head of State]] of [[Westarctica]], a [[Micronations|micronation]], new country project, and environmental non-profit corporation. The Grand Duke has been involved with various micronations, and has founded three of his own, starting in 1996 with the [[Kingdom of Casbah]], then [[Westarctica]] in 2001, and finally [[Colony of Calsahara|Calsahara]] in 2009. In between these projects, he served as a governor for two provinces of [[Republic of Molossia|Molossia]].
+'''[[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 August 2001, while serving in the [[U.S. Navy]], Travis discovered a loophole in the [[Antarctic Treaty]] which legally allowed him to claim a huge swath of land on the [[Antarctica|Antarctic continent]] for himself. Travis solidified this claim on 2 November 2001 when he notified nine world governments of his claim and his intention to establish a sovereign nation in the [[Marie Byrd Land]] region of [[Antarctica]].
+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.
-'''([[Grand Duke Travis|Full Article...]])'''
+'''([[Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''