Chapter 574 Antarctica

As we all know, the earth has seven continents and four oceans. Each continent has quite rich resources and land area, and each ocean has extremely rich marine resources and islands.

From the Age of Discovery to the present, European powers have already developed various parts of the world quite well. Even many small islands in the vast Pacific Ocean have been colonized. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are European colonists all over the world.

But things are not so absolute. Among the seven continents, Europe is the homeland, and there are also a large number of powers, so it goes without saying.

Africa and Asia have a large number of indigenous peoples, and with the patronage of colonists, the degree of development has been quite complete.

America and Australia are basically the same. They were first colonized by colonists and then became independent into one or more countries. They are typical types of colonies turning into countries.

But there is a special name, even as powerful as European powers, they cannot develop it better.

The only remaining continent has a special name, that is Antarctica.

Antarctica is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It is a continent located at the southernmost tip of the earth, with a total area of ​​10,000 square kilometers, which is 4% of the world's total land area, far exceeding the total area of ​​Australasia.

If we only look at the total area, no country should refuse this land of Antarctica, and it should face no less colonists than other continents.

But in fact, because it is located at the southernmost tip of the earth, Antarctica has the coldest climate on earth, which is also the biggest problem facing the development of Antarctica.

If it were not for such a severe cold climate, Antarctica would have been developed into a new colony by European colonists, instead of being like now, where most areas are in a state of uninhabited.

How exaggerated is the severe cold climate in Antarctica? Only 2% of the entire continent is not covered by ice and snow all year round, so that animals and plants can survive.

The extreme minimum temperature in Antarctica has reached -2 ​​degrees Celsius, and the wind speed can reach about 18 meters per second, and the maximum has even reached more than 90 meters per second. It is recognized as the coldest, most stormy and windiest land in the world.

The average annual precipitation in the entire Antarctic is only 55 mm. There is almost no precipitation near the center, that is, the South Pole. The air is very dry and has the title of white desert.

In the Antarctic Circle, there are continuous polar days in the warm season, that is, continuous daytime. And there are continuous polar nights in the cold season, that is, continuous nights.

Polar days and polar nights are special phenomena in Antarctica, and coupled with the gorgeous arc-shaped aurora, Antarctica has become an extremely special land.

Although there are few plants in Antarctica, there are still many animals living in Antarctica.

The most well-known ones are penguins, walruses, sea lions, albatrosses, etc. In addition, the Antarctic snowfish, bigmouth fish and krill that are abundant in the oceans near Antarctica have made the land of Antarctica a region that countries are vying to claim.

As the country closest to Antarctica, with the most coasts adjacent to Antarctica across the sea, and the most powerful country in the Southern Hemisphere, Australasia naturally has more advantages in claiming Antarctica.

At present, the only place that countries can reach is the periphery of Antarctica. The cold temperature directly rejected the visit of foreign tourists. Before there were advanced enough warm-keeping facilities and sufficient material support, the exploration of Antarctica had always been a stagnant work.

This also led to the fact that the rich resources in Antarctica have not been discovered yet. What attracts people to Antarctica now, in addition to the vast ice and snow, is the curiosity brought by the unknown.

But Arthur knew that Antarctica has rich coal, oil, natural gas, gold, silver, nickel, molybdenum, manganese, and uranium mines, which are not inferior to the resources of other continents. Except for the shortcomings of the weather, there are almost no defects. It is also a land that Australasia in the southern hemisphere must fight for.

Compared with other continents, how slow is the development of Antarctica?

In 1911, Roald Amundsen from Norway became the first person to reach the South Pole. This is the first person to reach the South Pole in recorded history.

Even now, there are not many people who have reached the South Pole. Even though a large number of internationally renowned explorers have challenged the South Pole, most of them still died in the South Pole, and only one in a hundred has successfully returned.

In order to speed up the exploration of Antarctica, Arthur decided to establish the official Antarctic expedition of Australasia, relying on the support of the entire country to explore the South Pole.

The expedition has many goals. The first is to reach the South Pole and conduct a comprehensive survey of Antarctica.

Secondly, establishing corresponding survey points and checking the flag of Australasia will be very helpful for Australasia to claim sovereignty over Antarctica.

Precisely because the population of Antarctica is small, it means that no force has historical sovereignty over Antarctica.

At present, the sovereignty claims of various countries are nothing more than relying on the research stations they have established in Antarctica and their strong international status.

As the only one in the southern hemisphere among the great powers, Australasia has a natural advantage in this regard.

As long as it can get help from Britain and join forces with France, it can even monopolize the exploration of the entire Antarctica.

This is also what Arthur is quite satisfied with in this era. Although it is a very cruel era of the survival of the fittest, as long as one is strong, the benefits he can obtain are definitely much greater than those of a seemingly righteous and peaceful society.

The current competition among countries is actually very simple. It is nothing more than a competition of national strength. The stronger ones will naturally occupy more benefits.

In the current world, no country can compete with the alliance of Britain, France and Australia, even the seemingly powerful island-US alliance is still the same.

To resist Britain, France and Australia, at least it must be the island country plus the United States plus another great power.

But unfortunately, Italy will not help the United States and the island country in vain. They will definitely prefer Britain and France in their choice. After all, Britain and France are closer to Italy and can pose a greater threat to Italy.

Apart from Italy, no country can reach the strength of the great powers, which also makes the United States and the island country join another country to fight against Britain, France and Australia.

Moreover, there is a world alliance behind Britain, France and Australia. If these three countries really unite to do something, at least in this world, they must be able to do it.

Arthur's idea of ​​forming an Antarctic expedition was quickly conveyed to the government, and officials also made efforts for this, and soon established an expedition.

This is also the benefit of having power. One of your ideas will make many officials work hard for it, and even risk their lives to achieve it.

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