Portal:Arctic

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$\mathbb{THE}$  $\mathbb{ARCTIC}$  $\mathbb{PORTAL}$ 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 - Robert Marshall (January 2, 1901 – November 11, 1939) was an American forester and writer, as well as a wilderness activist and explorer. The son of wealthy constitutional lawyer and wilderness advocate Louis Marshall, Bob Marshall was first exposed to nature as a young child. He quickly developed a love for the outdoors, visiting the Adirondack Mountains numerous times to hike and climb, becoming one of the first Adirondack Forty-Sixers. He also traveled to the Alaskan wilderness and authored numerous articles and publications, including the 1933 bestselling book Arctic Village. A scientist with a Doctor of Philosophy in plant physiology, Marshall became independently wealthy after the death of his father. He was also a supporter of socialism and civil liberties and held two significant public posts during his life: chief of forestry in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from 1933 to 1937, and head of recreation management in the Forest Service, from 1937 to 1939. Defining wilderness as a social as well as an environmental ideal, Marshall was the first to suggest a formal, national organization of individuals dedicated to the preservation of primeval land. edit   In the news - Wikinews Arctic portal 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 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 May 14: US says polar bears are threatened species March 19: NASA: Old Arctic sea ice continues to melt edit   Selected picture - Description:82 N. Latitude, panorama shot during the unsuccessful Ziegler polar expedition of 1903-1905. Author: Library of Congress CALL NUMBER: PAN FOR GEOG - Arctic Ocean no. 1 Featured picture ...Archive/Nominations edit   Did you know - Tookoolito, from an 1862 engraving ...that Tookoolito (pictured) and her companion were advertised as "Esquimaux Indians... from the arctic regions" and exhibited at Barnum's American Museum in 1862? Read More... ...that the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center is the northernmost supercomputer cluster in the world? Read More... ... that while serving aboard HMS Carcass as a midshipman on an Arctic expedition, a young Horatio Nelson is reported to have chased a polar bear? Read more.... Wikipedia:Recent additions 225 ...that there are parts of Canadian airspace where compasses aren't useful because they're too close to the magnetic north pole? Read more... edit   Categories ▼ Arctic ► Arctic portal ► Arctic-related lists ► Images of the Arctic ► Astronomy in the Arctic ► Culture of the Arctic ► Environment of the Arctic ► Geography of the Arctic ► Government of the Arctic ► History of the Arctic ► Military in the Arctic ► Arctic research ► Arctic society ► Transport in the Arctic ► Arctic stubs ► Arctic templates ► WikiProject Arctic edit   Quotation - Even in our day, science suspects beyond the Polar seas, at the very circle of the Arctic Pole, the existence of a sea which never freezes and a continent which is ever green. Source: The Secret Doctrine -- Vol. 2 Theosophical University Press Online Edition by H. P. Blavatsky 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 the island Nunâ east of Upernavik and south of Aappilattoq in Greenland.. Featured panoramas | More information... edit   Topics edit   Related portals edit   Wikimedia

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