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

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

News •

Conservatives pledge three northern Canadian military bases and fleet of surveillance planes for Arctic • Apr. 17, 2025, 11:03 PM ET (Globe and Mail)

Russian Arctic oil exports to China jump helped by STS transfers, sources say • Apr. 17, 2025, 7:39 AM ET (Reuters)

WHO tests pandemic response with Arctic ‘mammothpox’ outbreak • Apr. 15, 2025, 1:21 AM ET (The Telegraph)

Want Arctic security? Nunavummiut say invest in Canada’s North • Apr. 14, 2025, 2:49 PM ET (CBC)

Greenland appoints first Arctic ambassador, pledges sustainable development • Apr. 12, 2025, 7:03 AM ET (Reuters)

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Svalbard, Norway

subarctic and Arctic regions

mountain peaks, Nunavut, Canada

white-tailed ptarmigan with winter plumage

white-tailed ptarmigan with summer plumage

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