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This area straddles Greater and Lesser Antarctica with the Ross Ice Shelf and land near the South Pole between. This edge of Greater Antarctica contains part of the Transantarctic Mountains. They are represented in the northwest--where they reach 3,600 meters, then bend into the Australian Antarctic Territory--beyond this area, and then return in the south, reaching 4,500 meters at Mt. Kirkpatrick. The system comes closest to the pole in the Queen Maud Mountains, and continues in the southeast as the Horlick Mountains.
Lesser Antarctica's east is a high plateau, with mountains near the coast. At Mt. Sidley, fairly far inland in the Executive Committee Range, they top 4,100 meters.
The coast is fronted by ice shelves, often containing islands. The most notable islands are Roosevelt, Siple and Carney and Ross, which is noted for its volcano, Mt. Erebus. Beyond the ice shelves is pack ice, which varies seasonally in density and extent, and is much more extensive in winter in this area's west.
The year round staff, less than 500, live in bases administered by the United States and New Zealand, and so the predominant language is English, and the religion or religious background is Christian. McMurdo Station is the largest base on the continent.
No-one even visited here before the late 19th century.
1. Antarctic claims are still in abeyance as of 2013.