The coldest, driest, highest, and loneliest continent, Antarctica is also, many of us think, the most wildly beautiful. Until relatively recently the private reserve of scientists, hardcore explorers, and a very lucky few, it's now--thanks to comfortable icebreakers and aircraft--readily accessible to our Adventure Collection travelers, from its theatrically mountainous Peninsula to the Pole.

• TOTAL AREA: 14,000,000 sq km

• LAND AREA: n/a

• WATER AREA: n/a

• POPULATION: No indigenous inhabitants, but there are both permanent and summer-only staffed research stations

• RELIGIONS: n/a

• LANGUAGES: n/a

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: n/a

• CAPITAL CITY: n/a

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: n/a

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC