Antarctica is in the Antarctic region.
The Antarctic ( US English [ æntˈɑrktɪk ] , UK English [ ænˈtɑrktɪk ] or [ æntˈɑrtɪk ] and [ ænˈtɑrtɪk ] or [ ænˈɑrtɪk ] ) is a polar region , specifically the region around the Earth 's South Pole , opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole . Antarctica . It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere , almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle , and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ( `` Southern Land '' ) date back to antiquity , Antarctica is noted as the last region on Earth in recorded history to be discovered and colonised by humans , being only first sighted in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny , who sighted the Fimbul ice shelf . The Subantarctic is a region in the southern hemisphere , located immediately north of the Antarctic region .