Antarctica has given birth to the world's largest iceberg after a 4320 sq kilometer behemoth called A-76 has broken off from the continent.

The newly released iceberg has is said to be almost twice the size of the Australian Capital Territory.

The enormity of A-76, which broke away from Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf, ranks as the largest existing iceberg on the planet, surpassing the now second-place A-23A – which is about 3380 sq km and also floating in the Weddell Sea.

Another massive Antarctic iceberg that had threatened a penguin-populated island off the southern tip of South America has since lost much of its mass and broken into pieces, scientists said earlier this year.

A-76 was first detected by the British Antarctic Survey and confirmed by the US National Ice Center based in Maryland using imagery from Copernicus Sentinel-1, consisting of two polar-orbiting satellites.