Antarctica
Antarctica is a continent governed by the Antarctic Treaty System; several countries have claims there, and no claim is generally recognised, at the bottom of the world. UN Tourism publishes no arrivals figure for it, so Globestamp places its stamp by estimate: Mythic, for fewer than 50,000 visitors a year.

- Stamp finish
- Mythicplaced by estimate
- Area
- 12,258,355 km² (4,732,974 sq mi)
- Population
- 4,490Natural Earth estimate
- Regions
- 2in Globestamp’s regions layer
Does Antarctica count as a country?
It depends on the list. Antarctica is a continent governed by the Antarctic Treaty System; several countries have claims there, and no claim is generally recognised, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “British Antarctic Territory (Antarctic Peninsula, Graham Land, South Orkney, South Shetland)”.
| List | Counts Antarctica? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | No |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes, as British Antarctic Territory (Antarctic Peninsula, Graham Land, South Orkney, South Shetland) |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
The Antarctica stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. Antarctica’s is Mythic: a living finish taken from the place itself, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year. UN Tourism has no figure for Antarctica, so its finish is placed by hand from what is known of its visitors. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to Antarctica
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts Antarctica when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Antarctica has no airport with scheduled flights, so most visitors arrive by road, rail or sea. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Events in Antarctica
Total solar eclipses over Antarctica that the app knows: 4 December 2021. A photo inside the path of totality that day ticks “Watch a total eclipse”.
2 regions to fill in
Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits Antarctica into 2 regions (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.
All 2
Antarctica · ATA+99?
Questions people ask
Is Antarctica a country?
It depends on the list. Antarctica is a continent governed by the Antarctic Treaty System; several countries have claims there, and no claim is generally recognised, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “British Antarctic Territory (Antarctic Peninsula, Graham Land, South Orkney, South Shetland)”.
How many tourists visit Antarctica?
UN Tourism, the usual source, publishes no arrivals figure for Antarctica. Globestamp places its stamp by estimate, as Mythic: fewer than 50,000 visitors a year.
How rare is a Antarctica stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Mythic, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does Antarctica count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “British Antarctic Territory (Antarctic Peninsula, Graham Land, South Orkney, South Shetland)”, one of its 330 destinations.
Places as rare as Antarctica
Near Antarctica
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.