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$\mathbb {THE}$${\mathbb {THE}}$  $\mathbb {ARCTIC}$${\mathbb {ARCTIC}}$  $\mathbb {PORTAL}$${\mathbb {PORTAL}}$ Main page   Statistics   WikiProjects edit   Arctic - Arctic Ocean The Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean (which overlies the North Pole) and parts of Canada, Greenland (a territory of Denmark), Russia, the United States (Alaska), Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The word Arctic comes from the Greek word arktos (άρκτος) , which means bear. The name refers to the constellation Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which dominates the northern region of the celestial sphere. There are numerous definitions of the Arctic region. The boundary is generally considered to be north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N), which is the approximate limit of the midnight sun and the polar night. Other definitions are based on climate and ecology, such as the 10°C (50°F) July isotherm, which roughly corresponds to the tree line in most of the Arctic. Socially and politically, the Arctic region includes the northern territories of the eight Arctic states, including Lapland, although by natural science definitions much of this territory is considered subarctic. The Arctic region consists of a vast ice-covered ocean (which is sometimes considered to be a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean) surrounded by treeless, frozen ground. In recent years the extent of the sea ice has declined, and there is some evidence suggesting Arctic water may be ice-free in summer. According to the Norwegian International Polar Year Secretariat and polar scientists, this ice cap may disappear over the summer of 2008. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. edit   Selected articles - The Sami people are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their ancestral lands span across an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sami people are among the largest indigenous groups in Europe. Their languages are the Sami languages, which are classified as Finno-Ugric. The cultural assimilation over many years of the Sami people in the four countries makes it difficult to estimate the numbers of Sami. However, the population is estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000. The Norwegian state recognizes any Norwegian as Sami if he or she has one great-grandparent whose home language was Sami, but there is not, and has not been, any registration of the home language spoken by Norwegian people. Roughly half of all Sami live in Norway, but many live in Sweden as well. Finland and Russia are also home to smaller groups located in the far north. The Sami in Russia were forced by the Soviet authorities to relocate to a collective called Lovozero/Lujávri, in the central part of the Kola Peninsula. edit   Selected biography - Uriel Sebree (February 20, 1848 – August 6, 1922) was a career officer in the United States Navy. He entered the Naval Academy during the Civil War and served until 1910, retiring as a rear admiral. He is best remembered for his two expeditions into the Arctic and for serving as the second acting governor of American Samoa. He was also commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1867, Sebree was posted to a number of vessels before being assigned to a rescue mission to find the remaining crew of the missing Polaris in the Navy's first mission to the Arctic. This attempt was only a partial success—the Polaris crew was rescued by a Scottish ship rather than the US Navy—but this led to Sebree's selection eleven years later for a second expedition to the Arctic. That mission to rescue Adolphus Greely and the survivors of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition was a success. Sebree was subsequently appointed as the second acting governor of American Samoa. edit   In the news - Wikinews Arctic portal April 25: UK announces £200 million polar research ship September 4: Wikinews Shorts: September 2, 2010 September 3: Wikinews Shorts: September 3, 2010/Fuel tanker aground in Northwest Passage June 21: Greenland assumes self rule Sunday January 10: Canadian trio claim South Pole record for trans-Antarctic trip December 10: Wikinews Shorts: December 10, 2008 October 28: Arctic ice thickness decreasing, suggests satellite data study August 28: 73M-year-old fossilized fish found in Canada August 27: Canadian military exercise NANOOK 2008 travels through uncharted waters June 28: The North Pole may possibly be ice free by summer edit   Selected picture - Description: Arctic Hare Lepus arcticus) Author: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...Archive/Nominations edit   Did you know - ...that arctic haze contributes to global warming, raising temperatures by up to 5.4°C (3°F) during the arctic winter? Read More... ...that John Wilson Danenhower, survivor of an Arctic expedition whose ship was crushed by ice, later committed suicide due to the grounding of the ship which was to be his first command?Read More... The Whaling Disaster of 1871. ...that seven whaling ships escaped the Whaling Disaster of 1871, but were forced to abandon their catch in order to accommodate 1,219 people from 33 other ships trapped in ice off the Alaskan coast? Read More... ... that Texas rancher Montie Ritchie was the photographer on a British Alpine Club expedition in 1949 to the Baffin Islands in the Canadian Arctic? Read more... edit   Categories ▼ Arctic ► Arctic-related lists ► Astronomy in the Arctic ► Culture of the Arctic ► Environment of the Arctic ► Geography of the Arctic ► Government of the Arctic ► History of the Arctic ► Inuit ► Military in the Arctic ► Arctic research ► Arctic society ► Transport in the Arctic ► Works about the Arctic ► Arctic stubs ► Arctic templates edit   Quotation - There are two kinds of Arctic problems, the imaginary and the real. Of the two, the imaginary are the most real. The Arctic in Fact and Fable Vilhjalmur Stefansson edit   Features Featured articles: S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 · Arctic Tern · Bob Marshall · Uriel Sebree · Jake Gyllenhaal · Peregrine Falcon · Common Raven · Orca · Right whale Good articles: Franklin's lost expedition · Walrus · Muskrat edit   Things to do edit   Selected panorama - Panoramic view of Midnight sun panorama of the north-western part of the town Upernavik in Greenland. 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