On Earth, 99 % of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on every continent including Oceania 's high - latitude oceanic islands such as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Between 35 ° N and 35 ° S, glaciers occur only in the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky Mountains, a few high mountains in East Africa, Mexico, New Guinea and on Zard Kuh in Iran. Glaciers cover about 10 percent of Earth 's land surface. Continental glaciers cover nearly 13,000,000 km (5 × 10 ^ sq mi) or about 98 percent of Antarctica 's 13,200,000 km (5.1 × 10 ^ sq mi), with an average thickness of 2,100 m (7,000 ft). Greenland and Patagonia also have huge expanses of continental glaciers.
where do you think glaciers can be found today
polar regions mountain ranges on every continent