World map showing the Arctic Circle in red

A sign along the Dalton Highway marking the location of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. The James W Dalton Highway, usually Dalton Highway ( Alaska Route 11) is a 414-mile (666 km road in Alaska.

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. A circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary East - West circle connecting all locations (not taking into account elevation that share a given EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 It is the parallel of latitude that (as of 2000) runs 66° 33′ 39″ (or 66. Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi ( Φ) gives the location of a place on Earth (or other planetary body north or south of the This article describes the unit of angle For other meanings see Degree. 56083°) north of the Equator. This article describes the unit of angle For other meanings see Degree. The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone. The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The equivalent latitude in the southern hemisphere is called the Antarctic Circle. The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circles (or parallels of latitude that mark maps of the Earth.

The Arctic Circle marks the southern extremity of the polar day (24 hour sunlit day, often referred to as the "midnight sun") and polar night (24 hour sunless night). The midnight sun is a phenomenon occurring in Latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle and south and nearby to the north of the The polar night is the night lasting more than 24 hours usually inside the Polar circles The opposite phenomenon when the sun stays above the horizon for a long time is called North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year, and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year. The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. The horizon ( Ancient Greek ὁ ὁρίζων, /ho horídzôn/ from ὁρίζειν, "to limit" is the apparent line that separates The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun On the Arctic Circle these events occur, in principle, exactly once per year, at the June and December solstices respectively. Solstices occur twice a year when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most oriented toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes It is called the Arctic because it corresponds to the southernmost point of the Constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear or Megale Arktos in Greek). Ursa Major ( is a Constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere

In fact, because of atmospheric refraction and because the sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun may be seen on the night of the summer solstice up to about 50′ (90 km) south of the Arctic Circle; similarly, on the day of the winter solstice part of the sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. Atmospheric Refraction is the deviation of Light or other Electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the A minute is a Unit of measurement of Time or of Angle. The minute is a unit of Time equal to 1/60th of an Hour or 60 This is true at sea level; these limits increase with elevation above sea level, although in mountainous regions there is often no direct view of the horizon.

The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed, but varies in a complex manner over time; see circles of latitude for information. A circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary East - West circle connecting all locations (not taking into account elevation that share a given

Geography and demographics

The geography north of the Arctic Circle is predominantly ocean, mostly ice-covered, but a great deal of land falls within the Circle as well. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major Sea ice is formed from Ocean water that freezes Because the Oceans consist of Saltwater, this occurs at about -1 The Circle itself passes through eight countries. From the Prime Meridian heading eastwards these are:

• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland
• Russia
• United States – Alaska
• Canada
• Greenland, a territory of Denmark
• Iceland – crosses the island of Grímsey

Very few people live north of the Arctic Circle due to the cold conditions. The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of Longitude) at which longitude is defined to be 0° Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( Grímsey is a small Island north of Iceland, situated directly on the Arctic Circle, with the highest Elevation of. The three largest towns above the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia; Murmansk (population 325,100), Norilsk (135,000), and Vorkuta (85,000). Murmansk (Му́рманск Murmanska Muurman is a city and Seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km Norilsk (Нори́льск is a major city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Vorkuta (Воркута́ Вӧркута Vörkuta; Nenets for Place teems with bears) is a Coal Mining town in the Tromsø in Norway has about 62,000 inhabitants, whereas Rovaniemi in Finland—which lies slightly south of the line—has slightly fewer than 58,000. ( Romsa in Northern Sami, Tromssa in Kven and Finnish) is a city and municipality in the county of Troms, History There has probably been continuous settlement in the Rovaniemi area since the Stone Age.

Recently the region north of the Arctic Circle has gained significant international attention due primarily to the perceived threat of global warming. Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Initial attention came as a result of the fact that the earth's poles are the points at which the planet tends to warm the fastest thereby acting as harbingers of what is to come. A geographical pole, or geographic pole, is either of two fixed points on the surface of a spinning body or Planet, at 90 degrees from the Equator, based The melting of the ice in the Circle is making the Northwest Passage, the shipping routes through the northern-most latitudes, more navigable, raising the possibility that some day the Arctic region could become a prime trade route. The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ^[1] In addition it is believed that the Arctic seabed may contain substantial oil fields which may become accessible if the ice covering them melts. An oil field is a region with an abundance of Oil wells extracting Petroleum (crude oil from below ground ^[2] These factors have led to recent international debates as to which nations can claim sovereignty or ownership over the waters north of the Circle. ^[3]

See also

References

External links

• Map of Arctic Circle (dotted line), showing major population areas
• Terra Incognita: Exploration of the Canadian Arctic—Historical essay about early expeditions to the Canadian Arctic, illustrated with maps, photographs and drawings