Is the Antarctic Circle the same as the Arctic Circle?

Is the Antarctic Circle the same as the Arctic Circle?

The Antarctic lies south of the Antarctic Circle and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. The Arctic region includes the Arctic Ocean, parts of Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Norway and Russia, and covers about 5.5 million square miles. The Antarctic covers nearly the same area, 5.4 million square miles.

What determines the latitude of the Arctic and Antarctic circles?

Its latitude depends on the Earth’s axial tilt, which fluctuates within a margin of more than 2° over a 41,000-year period, due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon. Consequently, the Antarctic Circle is currently drifting southwards at a speed of about 15 m (49 ft) per year.

Why is the Antarctic Circle important?

Because the Earth’s axis is inclined about 23.5° from the vertical, this parallel marks the northern limit of the area within which, for one day or more each year, at the summer and winter solstices, the Sun does not set (December 21 or 22) or rise (June 21 or 22).

Are there two arctic circles?

The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone.

Why does the Antarctic Circle get 24 hours of daylight?

This is because the earth is tilted at a 23.5 degree angle, and during the winter solstice, the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, meaning that the antarctic circle is completely tilted away from the Sun, hence it experiences 24 hour nighttime, and vice versa. …

What is the closest country to the Arctic?

The depth of the ocean at the North Pole is more than 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). The Canadian territory of Nunavut lies closest to the North Pole. Greenland, the world’s largest island and an independent country within the Kingdom of Denmark, is also close to the pole.

Why is it called Arctic Circle?

“Arctic” comes from the work “arktikos”, the Greek word for bear. The reason is that Ursa Major, the Great Bear constellation is viewed in the northern sky. The Arctic Circle marks the region above which, for at least 1 day a year, there is all day sunshine in the summer and 24-hours of darkness in the winter.