Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

who do the work of the nest—for

example, collecting food, cleaning the

nest, and caring for eggs. Soldiers are

larger females who defend the colony.

They also raid other colonies and often

capture slaves.

At certain times of the year, many species

produce winged males and queens.

The males’ only purpose is to mate with

the queens. The males and the queens

fly into the air to mate. The males die

soon afterward. Each queen then lays

her eggs and sets up a new nest. It takes

several weeks for the eggs to develop

into adults. Most ants live for 6 to 10

weeks, though some live up to 15 years.

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Insect

Harvester ants work to store grass, seeds,

and berries in their nest.

Carpenter ants like wood of all kinds. They

make their nests in live or dead trees or in

wooden structures such as telephone poles

and porches.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Ant 133

 

Antananarivo

Population

(2001 estimate)

1,403,449

Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar,

an island country off the southeastern

coast of Africa. Antananarivo stands

on a high hill in the country’s central

highlands. It is the largest city in Madagascar

by far.

Antananarivo’s historic sites include

royal palaces from the 1800s. The city

also has Anglican and Roman Catholic

cathedrals and the National Library. The

University of Madagascar was opened in

the city in 1961.

Antananarivo has been a government

center for hundreds of years. Many of

the city’s residents work for the government

of Madagascar. Banking and business

services are also important to the

economy. The city’s factories process

tobacco and make foods, leather, and

clothing.

Antananarivo began as a fortress town

in the 1600s. It became the capital of

the Merina kingdom in the 1700s. In

1895 French troops took control of the

town. Within 10 years the French

controlled most of the island. They

made the town the capital of their

colony. In 1960 the colony became an

independent country with its capital at

Antananarivo. The city grew quickly in

the late 20th century.

#More to explore

Madagascar

The sun sets on the hilly city of Antananarivo.

134 Antananarivo BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Antarctica

The southernmost continent in the

world, Antarctica surrounds the South

Pole. Its name means “opposite to the

Arctic” (the Arctic is the region around

the North Pole). Antarctica is larger than

both Europe and Australia. But it has no

permanent human population.

Land

An ice sheet covers nearly all of Antarctica.

It contains 90 percent of the

world’s ice and 70 percent of the world’s

freshwater. At its thickest point the ice

sheet is 15,670 feet (4,776 meters) deep.

Around the coast, glaciers continually

break off icebergs into the sea.

The continent has two unequal parts.

The larger is generally known as East

Antarctica, while the smaller is West

Antarctica.West Antarctica includes the

Antarctic Peninsula, an 800-mile

(1,300-kilometer) extension of the continent

that juts northward toward the

southern tip of South America. The

Transantarctic Mountains separate East

andWest Antarctica. Mountains with

only their peaks showing through the

ice, known as nunataks, are found in

some areas. Antarctica has several active

volcanoes.

About 2 percent of Antarctica is ice-free.

These unusual land areas, called oases,

are mostly found near the coast. They

include the dry valleys of southern Victoria

Land and the Bunger Oasis in

Wilkes Land.

Penguins are among the few animals that can survive the very cold temperatures of

Antarctica.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Antarctica 135

 

136 Antarctica BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Antarctica does not have 24-hour periods

divided into days and nights. At the

South Pole the sun rises on about September

21 and moves in a circular path

until it sets on about March 22. This

“day,” or summer, is six months long.

From March 22 until September 21 the

South Pole is dark, and Antarctica has its

“night,” or winter.

Antarctica is the coldest continent. The

average annual temperature in the

interior is .70° F (.57° C). But the

coast is warmer. Along the Antarctic

Peninsula temperatures can rise up to

59° F (15° C).

Plants and Animals

The extreme cold has kept the

continent almost empty of life. Some

mosses and liverworts grow in ice-free

areas along the coast, and two types of

flowering plants grow on the peninsula.

Native land animals are limited to

certain kinds of arthropods, or

insectlike animals.

About 45 kinds of birds live in Antarctica.

The emperor and the Adelie penguins

are found in large numbers around

the entire coastline. Gentoo and chinstrap

penguins occupy the Antarctic

Peninsula coasts and some islands. Several

kinds of seals and whales inhabit the

waters around Antarctica. Fishes limited

to the Antarctic include the Antarctic

cod and the icefish.

History

The first recorded landing on Antarctica

was on Cape Adare in 1895. The first

people to spend a winter on the continent

did so in a ship that was caught in

ice at Cape Adare during the period

from March 1898 to March 1899.

Englishmen Robert F. Scott and Ernest

Henry Shackleton led three expeditions

to the Antarctic between 1901 and