Arctic Circle

The word arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός (arktikos: "near the Bear, northern"){{cite web |author1-link = Henry Liddell |first1 = Henry |last1 = Liddell |author2-link = Robert Scott (philologist) |first2 = Robert |last2 = Scott |url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2315193 |title = Arktikos |work = A Greek–English Lexicon |publisher = Perseus Digital Library }} and that from the word ἄρκτος (arktos: "bear").{{cite web |first1 = Henry |last1 = Liddell |first2 = Robert |last2 = Scott |url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2315199 |title = Arktos |work = A Greek–English Lexicon |publisher = Perseus Digital Library }}

{{Further|Midnight sun|Polar night}}

File:axial_tilt_vs_tropical_and_polar_circles.svg

The Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere at which the centre of the Sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for twenty-four hours; as a result, at least once each year at any location within the Arctic Circle the centre of the Sun is visible at local midnight, and at least once the centre is not visible at local noon.{{cite book |last = Burn |first = Chris |title = The Polar Night |url = http://nwtresearch.com/sites/default/files/the-polar-night.pdf |publisher = The Aurora Research Institute |access-date = 28 September 2015 }}

Directly on the Arctic Circle these events occur, in principle, exactly once per year: at the June and December solstices, respectively. However, because of atmospheric refraction and mirages, and also because the sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun is visible, on the night of the northern summer solstice, at a latitude of about 50 minutes of arc (′) ({{cvt|90|km}}) south of the Arctic Circle. Similarly, on the day of the northern winter solstice, part of the Sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. That is true at sea level; those limits increase with elevation above sea level, although in mountainous regions there is often no direct view of the true horizon.

Image:World map with arctic circle.svg showing the Arctic Circle in red]]

{{Further|Circumpolar peoples}}

The largest communities north of the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia, Norway, and Sweden: Murmansk (population 295,374) and Norilsk (178,018) in Russia; Tromsø (75,638) in Norway, Vorkuta (58,133) in Russia, Bodø (52,357) and Harstad (24,703) in Norway; and Kiruna, Sweden (22,841). In Finland, the largest settlement in the immediate vicinity of the Arctic Circle is Rovaniemi (62,667), lying {{cvt|6|km|0}} south of the line. Salekhard (51,186) in Russia is the only city in the world located directly on the Arctic Circle.{{Cite web|url=http://togeo.ru/main/salehard/gorod-na-polyarnom-kruge.html|title=Город на Полярном круге|language=ru|author=Всеволод Липатов|website=ToGeo.ru|date=2011-04-26|publisher=|access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=8 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808034815/http://togeo.ru/main/salehard/gorod-na-polyarnom-kruge.html|url-status=dead}}

In contrast, the largest North American community north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut (Greenland), has approximately 5,600 inhabitants. In the United States, Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) is the largest settlement north of the Arctic Circle with about 5,000 inhabitants. The largest such community in Canada is Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, with 3,137 inhabitants.

{{GeoGroup}}

The Arctic Circle is roughly {{Cvt|16000|km}} in circumference.{{cite book |last1 = Nuttall |first1 = Mark |title = Encyclopedia of the Arctic Volumes 1, 2 and 3 |date = 2004 |publisher = Routledge |isbn = 978-1579584368 |page = 115 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&pg=PA115 }} The area north of the Circle is about {{Cvt|20000000|km2}} and covers roughly 4% of Earth's surface.{{cite book |first1 = William M. |last1 = Marsh |first2 = Martin M. |last2 = Kaufman |title = Physical Geography: Great Systems and Global Environments |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uF3aJSC20yMC&pg=PA24 |year = 2012 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0-521-76428-5 |page = 24 }}

The Arctic Circle passes through the Arctic Ocean, the Scandinavian Peninsula, North Asia, Northern America, and Greenland. The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey).

{{Further|Climate of the Arctic}}

The climate north of the Arctic Circle is generally cold, but the coastal areas of Norway have a generally mild climate as a result of the Gulf Stream, which makes the ports of northern Norway and northwest Russia ice-free all year long. In the interior, summers can be quite warm, while winters are extremely cold. For example, summer temperatures in Norilsk, Russia will sometimes reach as high as {{convert|30|C}}, while the winter temperatures frequently fall below {{convert|-50|C}}.

File:Santa Land Rovaniemi Arctic Circle2.jpg

File:Polar circle monument (08).jpg, Russia]]

File:Arctic Circle Sign - Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.jpg Arctic Circle sign in Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut, with Mount Thor in the background]]

File:Northern lights at the Arctic Circle.jpg above Arctic Circle sign along the Dempster Highway in Yukon at {{coord|66|33|55|N|136|18|26|W|type:landmark_region:CA-YT|name=Arctic Circle sign}}]]

File:Rovaniemi - Aurora Borealis.jpg are a fairly common sight in the Arctic Circle. The picture of the northern lights in Rovaniemi.]]

Starting at the prime meridian and heading eastwards, the Arctic Circle passes through:

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File:2016-11-20 01 Arctic Circle marker on the island of Vikingen Norway.jpg|Northern Polar Circle Globe on Vikingen island marking the Arctic Circle in Norway

File:Polarkreis inlandsbanan.jpg|Arctic Circle sign by the Inland Line railway, Sweden

File:Rovaniemi-SantaClausVillage.jpg|The white borderline of the Arctic Circle at the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland

File:Полярный круг, Россия.jpg|Arctic Circle sign in the Republic of Karelia, Russia

File:Россия, ЯНАО, Полярный круг..JPG|Arctic Circle sign by the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia

File:Круиз Якутск - Ленские столбы - Тикси - Якутск, 2017 (364).jpg|A sign in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia

File:Iceland2008-Grimsey.arctic.circle.JPG|Arctic Circle marker on island of Grímsey in Iceland

File:Arctic Circle sign.jpg|A sign along the Dalton Highway marking the location of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, United States

File:Polcirkeln Portal.jpg|Polcirkeln portal in Gällivare, Sweden

File:66 33 arctic circle.jpg|Arctic Circle line in Rovaniemi, Finland {{circa|1865}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• 60th parallel north
• Arctic cooperation and politics
• Arctic haze
• Circumpolar star
• Scott Polar Research Institute
• Territorial claims in the Arctic
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Arctic Circle}}

{{Wiktionary}}

• [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/GE_P3_5_EN.html Terra Incognita: Exploration of the Canadian Arctic]—Historical essay about early expeditions to the Canadian Arctic, illustrated with maps, photographs and drawings
• [http://www.jqjacobs.net/astro/epoch_2000.html#download Temporal Epoch Calculations ©2006 by James Q. Jacobs] Download: Epoch v2009.xls (modify D4)
• [http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/models/constants.html Useful constants"] See: Obliquity of the ecliptic

{{Arctic topics}}

{{geographical coordinates}}

Category:Geography of the Arctic

Category:Circles of latitude