Arctic

Table of Contents

Introduction
Physical geography
- The land
  - Geology
  - Continental ice sheets of the past
  - Terrain
  - Drainage and soils
  - Present-day glaciation
  - Greenland ice sheet
  - Other glacier groups
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
  - Vegetation
  - Animal life
    - Animals of the land and fresh water
    - Marine fauna
The people
- Adaptations to local environments
- Identification of Eastern and Western Arctic cultures
- Relations with the encompassing nation-states
- Peoples and cultures of the Eurasian Arctic and subarctic
  - Ethnic composition
  - Peoples of Fennoscandia and northwestern Siberia
  - North-central and northeastern Siberian groups
  - Linguistic affiliations
  - Demography
  - History of settlement
  - Traditional culture
- Peoples and cultures of the American Arctic
  - Linguistic composition
  - Ethnic groups
  - History of settlement
  - Traditional cultures
    - Seasonally migratory peoples: the northern Yupiit and the Inuit
    - Sedentary peoples: the southern Yupiit and the Unangan (Aleuts)
  - Historical developments
    - Greenland
    - Southern and southwestern Alaska
    - Canada and northern Alaska
  - Contemporary developments
The economy
- Resources
  - Mineral resources
  - Biological resources
  - Other renewable resources
- Transportation
  - Water transport
  - Land transport
  - Air transport
- Human resources
- Political and environmental issues
  - Administration
  - Environmental concerns
  - The Arctic in international affairs
Study and exploration
- The Northeast Passage
  - English and Dutch exploration of the Eurasian Arctic
  - Early Russian exploration
  - Conquest of the Northeast Passage
- The Northwest Passage
  - Early voyages of exploration
  - 19th-century attempts at the passage
  - Traverses of the passage in the 20th century
- Whale fisheries and the fur trade
- The North Pole
  - Attempts from Svalbard and Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
  - The Fram expedition
  - The race for the pole
- Scientific exploration
  - Svalbard
  - The Russian Arctic
  - Greenland(Kalaallit Nunaat)
  - The North American Arctic
  - The Arctic Ocean

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Svalbard, Norway

subarctic and Arctic regions

mountain peaks, Nunavut, Canada

Life of polar bear cubs in the Canadian Arctic

Survival challenges for polar bear cubs in the Arctic

white-tailed ptarmigan with winter plumage

white-tailed ptarmigan with summer plumage

Read Next

The United States pavilion, World's Fair, Montreal, by Buckminster Fuller built n 1967. The structure is now known as the Montreal Biosphere and houses an environmental museum inside the original geodesic dome. Reflection

11 Architectural Wonders to Visit in Canada

Banff National Park. Aerial view of Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Aerial perspective.

Canada: 10 Claims to Fame

Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland

The Largest Islands in the World

Discover

Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.

6 Lakes That Are Drying Up

NBA Lakers Celtics Finals Kevin Garnett shooting.

10 Great Sports Rivalries

Demystified - Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide? illustration

Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide?

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Statue of Nostradamus

Nostradamus and His Prophecies

Time zone map with standard time zones and International Date Line

Why Are Some Time Zones 30 Minutes Off Instead of an Hour?

Artist interpretation of space asteroids impacting earth and moon. Meteoroids, meteor impact, end of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Doomsday Predictions, comet

Major Mass Extinctions

Arctic: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2025

News •

Macron visits Greenland to show European support for the strategic Arctic island coveted by Trump • June 15, 2025, 8:28 AM ET (AP)

NATO is set to approve new military purchases as part of a major defense spending hike • June 5, 2025, 6:24 AM ET (AP)

Top Trump officials visit prolific Alaska oil field amid push to expand drilling • June 2, 2025, 9:14 PM ET (AP)

Trump officials are visiting Alaska to discuss a gas pipeline and oil drilling • June 1, 2025, 12:03 AM ET (AP)

Photos and Videos

Svalbard, Norway

subarctic and Arctic regions

mountain peaks, Nunavut, Canada

white-tailed ptarmigan with winter plumage

white-tailed ptarmigan with summer plumage

Distribution of Arctic peoples

Herding and snowmobiles

Life of polar bear cubs in the Canadian Arctic

Survival challenges for polar bear cubs in the Arctic

Polar bear triplets' first steps into the Arctic

See a desperately hungry polar bear hunting for fish due to scarcity of food in the Russian Arctic

Join a climate-change research team collecting samples from the bottom of Greenland's Arctic lakes

See All Videos, Images and Podcasts →

Topics

Levant Middle East Silicon Valley Scandinavia Southeast Asia New England Oceania Palestine Kurdistan Kashmir

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic