ÿþ<html> <head> <title> Arctic Ocean Geography 2013, CIA World Factbook </title> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Arctic Ocean Geography 2013, CIA World Factbook"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Arctic Ocean, Geography, 2013, CIA, World, Factbook"> <script language="JavaScript"> function AddToFaves_hp(){ var is_4up = parseInt(navigator.appVersion); var is_mac = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("mac")!=-1; var is_ie = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("msie")!=-1; var thePage = location.href; if (thePage.lastIndexOf('#')!=-1) thePage = thePage.substring(0,thePage.lastIndexOf('#')); if (is_ie && is_4up && !is_mac) window.external.AddFavorite(thePage,document.title); else if (is_ie || document.images) booker_hp = window.open(thePage,'booker_','menubar,width=325,height=100,left=140,top=60'); //booker_hp.focus(); } //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; 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/* WFB Medium Rectangle */ google_ad_slot = "5200087626"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br> Page last updated on November 15, 2012 <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#location">Location:</a></b><br> body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#geographic_coordinates">Geographic coordinates:</a></b><br> 90 00 N, 0 00 E <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/maps/">Map references</a>: </b><br> Arctic</a> <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#area">Area:</a></b><br> <i>total: </i>14.056 million sq km <br>[see also: <a href="http://www.photius.com/rankings/geography/total_area_sq_km_2013_0.html" target="_blank"><u>Area - total country ranks</u></a> ] <br><i> <em>note:</em> </i>includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#area_comparative">Area - comparative:</a></b><br> slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#coastline">Coastline:</a></b><br> 45,389 km <br>[see also: <a href="http://www.photius.com/rankings/geography/coastline_2013_0.html" target="_blank"><u>Coastline country ranks</u></a> ] <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#climate">Climate:</a></b><br> polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#terrain">Terrain:</a></b><br> central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average, is about 3 meters thick, although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#elevation_extremes">Elevation extremes:</a></b><br> <i>lowest point: </i>Fram Basin -4,665 m <br>[see also: <a href="http://www.photius.com/rankings/geography/elevation_extremes_lowest_point_2013_0.html" target="_blank"><u>Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks</u></a> ] <br><i> highest point: </i>sea level 0 m <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#natural_resources">Natural resources:</a></b><br> sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#natural_hazards">Natural hazards:</a></b><br> ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#environment_current_issues">Environment - current issues:</a></b><br> endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#geography_note">Geography - note:</a></b><br> major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months </font> <p> <p> <BR> <P> <font size = "-2"><B> NOTE: The information regarding Arctic Ocean on this page is re-published from the 2013 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Arctic Ocean Geography 2013 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Arctic Ocean Geography 2013 should be addressed to the CIA. </B></font> </P> <br> <hr> <a href="#" onClick="AddToFaves_hp()"><img src="http://www.theodora.com/images/bookmark_banner.gif" align="left" width="176" height="52" border="0"></a><font color=brown> - Please bookmark this page (add it to your favorites). <br> - If you wish to <b>link</b> to this page, you can do so by referring to the URL address below this line.</font> <hr> http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/arctic_ocean/arctic_ocean_geography.html <br><br> This page was last modified 22-Mar-13 <br> Copyright &copy 1995-2013 <a href="http://www.theodora.com/ita.html">ITA</a> all rights reserved. <br> </td> <td width=200 valign="top" align="left" background="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/light_blue.gif"> <!-- SiteSearch Google --> <br> <form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box"> <div> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-pub-7437757543052749:i8v5yg-obf2" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="text" name="q" size="26" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> </div> </form> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box&lang=en"></script> <!-- End SiteSearch Google --> <font size="2" face="arial"> <b> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb">|Main INDEX|</a> <li><a href="../index.html">2013 INDEX</a> <li><a href="http://www.photius.com/rankings/index.html">Country Ranks</a> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html">DEFINITIONS</a> <br><br> <a href="index.html">Arctic Ocean Index 2013</a> <br><br> <a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/arctic_ocean/index.html">Arctic Ocean Main Index</a> <li><a href="arctic_ocean_introduction.html">Introduction</a> <li><a href="arctic_ocean_geography.html">Geography</a> <li>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theodora.com/maps">Maps</a><br> </b> &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.photius.com/religion">Religion</a> <b><br> <li><a href="arctic_ocean_economy.html">Economy</a> <li><a href="arctic_ocean_transportation.html">Transportation</a> <br></B> &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.photius.com/wfb2001/airport_codes_alpha.html">Airport Codes</a> <b> <li><a href="arctic_ocean_issues.html">Transnational Issues</a> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/">Photos</a> </ul> <ul><A href="http://www.theodora.com/wwwads.html" target="_blank">Advertise Here</a></ul> <ul> . <A href="http://www.theodora.com/theodora_feedback.html">Feedback</a> <br><br> <div class="fb-like" data-send="false" data-layout="button_count" data-width="80" data-show-faces="false"></div> <br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="none">Tweet</a> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script> <br><br> <g:plusone size="medium" annotation="none"></g:plusone> <br> </ul> </ul> </ul> </b> </font> </td></tr></table> </body> </html>