Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi). NASA uses satellites to study the ice on Antarctica and how the continent is changing. Scientists want to know how changes in Earth’s climate are affecting Antarctica’s ice sheets. Antarctica is the only continent with no permanent human habitation. There are, however, permanent human settlements, where scientists and support staff live for part of the year on a rotating basis. A team of international scientists compiled decades of data to create a map showing the topography of Antarctica with the ice removed. Because Antarctica surrounds the South Pole, it is theoretically located in all time zones. For practical purposes, time zones are usually based on territorial claims or the time zone of a station's owner country or supply base. Antarctica, the world’s southernmost continent, is almost wholly covered by an ice sheet and is about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km) in size. Though Antarctica is really, really chilly, it is considered a desert because it receives very little rain or snowfall. The small amount of snow that does fall does not melt but builds up over hundreds and thousands of years to form large, thick ice sheets. Explore Earth's coldest continent with the latest Antarctica news, articles and features from Live Science. The first official use of the name Antarctica as a continental name in the 1890s is said to have been used by Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 21 countries. From the highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula to the nearby islands and passages to visit on the way, here are our top places to visit in Antarctica!.