Surprising Facts about the Arctic Circle

One of the most intriguing and scenic places in the world is the Arctic Circle.  As one of the most fascinating areas on the planet, the Arctic Circle is often found on people’s “bucket lists,” as they strive to travel to the one of world’s most intriguing places. There are several surprising and interesting facts about the region, and we’ve compiled some noteworthy tidbits below:

• The Arctic Ocean is large than you may think. In fact, it spans 5.4 million miles across the Earth. That is bigger than several continents, including Europe.

• Eight different countries have parts of their territory within the Arctic Circle. These countries include Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States among others.

• If you are a firm believer in global warming, this next fact may worry you. There is so much ice in the artic that the sea level would rise by more than 20 feet if all of it melted.

• Most people think of the Arctic as a barren region covered in snow and ice throughout the entire year. This is actually far from the truth. As much as 90% of the Arctic has almost no snow in the summer, allowing for trees, flowers, and other types of plants to grow.

• There have been Neanderthal remains found in the Arctic Circle that are more than 28,000 years old.

• There are nearly 4,000 residents in the Alaskan portion of the Arctic Circle,

These facts barely scratch the surface of everything there is to learn about the Arctic Circle. For more information and interesting details, specifically about the Arctic Circle in Alaska, keep checking back with the 1^st Alaska Outdoor School!

Posted by: Ralf Dobrovolny