Nearly twenty-five years before, Captain John Davis had noted, as he sailed near the Arctic Circle, `` a very great gulf, the water whirling and roaring, as it were the meeting of tides ''.

World map showing the Arctic Circle in red.

Map of the Arctic with the Arctic Circle in blue.

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles 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 ).

North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year ( and therefore visible at midnight ) and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year.

On the Arctic Circle those events occur, in principle, exactly once per year, at the June and December solstices, respectively.

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 northern summer solstice up to about 50 ′ () 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.

The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed, but directly depends on the Earth's axial tilt, which fluctuates within a margin of 2 ° over a 40, 000 year period, notably due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon.

Relatively few people live north of the Arctic Circle due to the Arctic climate.

The three largest communities above the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia: Murmansk ( population 325, 100 ), Norilsk ( 135, 000 ), and Vorkuta ( 85, 000 ).

Rovaniemi ( in Finland ), which lies slightly south of the line, has a population of approximately 58, 000, and is the largest settlement in the immediate vicinity of the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic Circle passes through the Arctic Ocean, the Scandinavian Peninsula, North Asia, Northern America and Greenland.

The land on the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States ( Alaska ), Canada, Denmark ( Greenland ), and Iceland ( where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey ).

Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Arctic Circle passes through:

The interior of Alaska is largely underlined by discontinuous permafrost, which grades to continuous permafrost as the Arctic Circle is approached.

Through Arctic Circle, University of Connecticut.

Second, they believed it important to determine the fate of the captain -- a man whose name is permanently stamped on our maps, on American towns and counties, on a great American river, and on half a million square miles of Arctic seas.

It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait.

As one component of the interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean ( which is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic ), to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south.

The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone.

Land which is unsuitable for arable farming usually has at least one of the following deficiencies: no source of fresh water ; too hot ( desert ); too cold ( Arctic ); too rocky ; too mountainous ; too salty ; too rainy ; too snowy ; too polluted ; or too nutrient poor.

The arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus, formerly known as Alopex lagopus ), also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome.

The arctic fox has a circumpolar range, meaning that it is found throughout the entire Arctic, including the outer edges of Greenland, Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Svalbard, as well as in Subarctic and alpine areas, such as Iceland and mainland alpine Scandinavia.

The Antarctic ( or ) is a polar region, specifically the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole.

The gleaming expanse of ice is similar to the Arctic, with wind-driven pack ice and ridges up to 15 m. Offshore of the landfast ice, the ice remains very dynamic all year, and it is relatively easily moved around by winds and therefore forms pack ice, made up of large piles and ridges pushed against the landfast ice and shores.

It is believed that melting Arctic ice will cause sea levels to rise and flood costal areas.

When South America became attached to North America creating the Isthmus of Panama, the Arctic region cooled due to the strengthening of the Humboldt and Gulf Stream currents, eventually leading to the glaciations of the Pleistocene ice age, the current interglacial of which is the Holocene Epoch.

The Earth's North Magnetic Pole ( currently in the Arctic Ocean, north of Canada ) is physically a south pole, as it attracts the north pole of a compass.

Under international law, no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it.

This event was run by Andrew Vaughan, the coach of the largest Junior team currently in the UK, Arctic Ultimate.

The history of Greenland is the history of life under extreme Arctic conditions: an ice cap currently covers about 80 percent of the island, largely restricting human activity to the coasts.

Kotzebue is currently the largest city in the Northwest Arctic Borough.

He is currently principal conductor of the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, and is contracted to the orchestra until 2014.

* Robert McGhee – Archaeologist and author specializing in the archaeology of the Arctic, currently Curator of Western Arctic Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The Arctic has numerous definitions, including the region north of the Arctic Circle currently ( Epoch 2010 at 66 ° 33 ' 44 " N ), or the region north of 60 ° north latitude, or the region from the North Pole south to the timberline.

The Retired enclosure currently houses Shadow and Malik, two Arctic wolves and Grizzer, a Great Plains wolves.

Like other conservatives, he also has advocated expanding the U. S. oil supply by eliminating several federal and state regulations that currently prohibit petroleum drilling in various U. S. coastal waters and in the oil-rich portion of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWR.

" The 379 family received interior changes through the 20 year run, like the " Original ( Square ) Dash " from 1987 to 2000, the " Ergonomic Dash " from 2001 to 2005, and the current " 2006 + Dash " currently available in Arctic Gray, Saharan Tan, Burgundy Wine, and Maritime Blue configurations.

Although Alaska has locations within the Arctic Circle, there are currently no bases within that region.

He is currently starring in Arctic Air.

: For the other subspecies, see southern Dolly Varden and Salvelinus malma miyabei ; for other species currently or formerly known as " Dolly Varden trout ", see also bull trout and Arctic char.

Marineland currently holds the world record of 41 beluga whales total in their exhibits, both wild and captive born whales in Arctic Cove, King Waldorf Theatre and Friendship Cove.

Harper has lived in the Canadian Arctic for 30 years ; he currently lives in Iqaluit and is an enthusiastic wrestling fan, notable for bringing Maximum Pro Wrestling to Iqaluit.

Steve is currently lead singer in the Sheffield based band Lords of Flatbush along with Andy Nicholson ( Ex Arctic Monkeys ), Louis Carnall ( Milburn ), Phil Jones and Nic Burke.

Having previously featured musicians like Sonic Youth, Iggy and The Stooges, Arctic Monkeys, Babyshambles, Morrissey and Beck, the festival currently draws an audience of approximately 80, 000 people.

( 2004 ) to show that average sea surface temperatures in the currently ice covered Arctic Ocean ( 80 degrees N ) were as high as 15 degrees Celsius in the late Cretaceous.