Arctic Region
Political map | Bathymetry of Arctic Region
Geography 
Economy 
Defense Forces
People 
Transportation 
Government
Communications 
Travel
GEOGRAPHY
Location
Body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle
Area
- Total area: 14.056 million sq km
- Comparative area: slightly more than 1.5 times the size of the U.S.; the Arctic ocean is the smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)
Note: Includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies
Coastline
45,389 km
International Disputes
Some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia
Climate
Polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow
Terrain
Central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling land masses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge)
lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m
highest point: sea level 0 m
Natural Resources
- Sand and gravel aggregates
- Placer deposits
- Polymetallic nodules
- Oil and gas fields
- Fish
- Marine mammals (seals and whales)
Environment
- Current issues: endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage
- Natural hazards: ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May
Note: Major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia, floating research stations operated by the U.S. and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean and lasts about 10 months
GOVERNMENT
Digraph
XQ
ECONOMY
Overview
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
TRANSPORTATION
Ports
Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (U.S.)
Note: Sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways
COMMUNICATIONS
Telephone System
- International: no submarine cables
World Atlas
