The Arctic is a region around the North Pole, with eight countries having territory within it. The largest territory belongs to Russia. The Arctic is not a continent and is defined by sunlight. Two-fifths of the Arctic is permanently frozen, and the region is divided into climates. The Arctic tundra accounts for about 1/10 of the Earth’s surface and is home to various animals and two peoples, the Eskimos and the Aleuts.
The Arctic refers to the region around the North Pole or the region within the Arctic Circle, the parallel of latitude located at 66°32′ or 66.5º north of the Equator. Eight countries have territory within this area:
• Canada
• Denmark (Greenland)
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Russia
• Sweden
• United States (Alaska)
The territory of Russia is the largest at 4,000,000 square miles (10,359,950 sq km).
However, the Arctic is not one of the seven continents, which however include its South Pole counterpart, Antarctica, while the others are North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Arctic territory, like tropical territory, can be defined in relation to sunlight. The Arctic is the zone within which there is one 24-hour period of the year when the sun does not rise and another similar period when the sun does not set.
Two-fifths of the Arctic is permanently frozen, a state referred to as permafrost. The other three-fifths thaws during the Arctic summer, which is short. The region is usually divided into climates: ice caps, where the average monthly temperature never exceeds 32º F (0ºC), and tundra, which has at least one month in which the average temperature is greater than 32º F (0ºC), but no months the average temperature is above 50º F (10ºC). Temperatures of -94ºF (-70ºC) have been observed in Greenland.
The Arctic tundra accounts for about 1/10 of the Earth’s surface. It is bordered to the south by the treeline and to the north by permafrost. Wildlife in the Arctic tundra includes many animals named after the area, such as the Arctic fox, Arctic hare, Arctic weasel, and Arctic wolf. Caribou, reindeer, musk oxen, polar bears, gray wolves and lemmings are also found. Some insects don’t like the cold, but mosquitoes and blackflies can be found in the Arctic.
Two peoples can be found in the American Arctic: the Eskimos and the Aleuts. The Eskimos have two branches, the Inuit and the Yupik or Yupiit. Arctic and subarctic peoples, often referred to as Native Americans or Indians, have distinctive cultures and one should not generalize between these two groups without care and consideration.
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