Antarctica
Antarctica is the southernmost and fifth-largest continent — the highest, driest, windiest, and coldest place on Earth. Almost entirely buried under an ice sheet that holds about 90 percent of the world's ice, it has no native population, only a few thousand seasonal researchers and staff. Governed since 1961 by the Antarctic Treaty and preserved for peace and science, the continent drives global climate, ocean currents, and sea level, while its surrounding sea ice grows and melts with the seasons.