Antarctica

… [Kiichiro Furukawa]
[Earth's South Pole]

[Antarctic region]
Antarctica refers to the southern end of the Earth's axis of rotation at 90° south latitude, and this point is called the South Pole. In general, it refers to the Antarctic region, which includes the nearly circular Antarctic continent centered on the South Pole, as well as the surrounding islands and ocean areas. In ancient Greece, the North Pole (northern) was described as arktikos, after the circumpolar star arktos (Ursa Major), and the South Pole (southern) was described as antarctikos, with the prefix "opposite of..." added.

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Antarctica" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…【古川 麒一郎】
〔地球の南極〕

【南極地域】
　南極は地球の自転軸の南端である南緯90゜の地点を指し，この地点は南極点South Poleと呼ばれる。一般には南極点を中心として，ほぼ円形の南極大陸Antarctica，さらに周辺の島や海域まで含めた南極地域Antarcticを指す。古代ギリシアでは，周極星の熊座arktos(おおぐま座Ursa Major)にちなんで北極(北方)をarktikosと，南極(南方)を〈…に反対の〉を表す接頭語をつけantarktikosと形容していた。…

※「Antarctica」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報