What is the Arctic Circle?

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude marking maps of the Earth. The other major circles of latitude are:

1. The Equator.
2. The Tropic of Cancer - crosses Baja California, Sahara desert, Gujurat and Madhya Pradesh in India, Yunnan Province in China.
3. The Tropic of Capricorn.
4. The Antarctic Circle. A recent British expedition has gone to Lake Ellswsorth to find prehistoric life in Antarctica (see Observer article).

North of the Arctic circle the sun is above the horizon for 24 hours at least once per year (June solstice).

The Artic is informally the region around the North Pole, consisting of the Arctic ocean, thousands of islands and the northermost parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Northern Alaska (purchased by America from the Russians) is also in the Arctic Circle. Also, anything above 66 degrees north is the Arctic.

A portion of North Norway (Nord-Noreg), consisting of the counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, is North of the Arctic Circle. Finnmark is the northernmost part of Continental Europe, where Norway swings to the East. The city of Alta lies in the Aurora Borealis zone, and is also known as the City of the Northern Lights. The lights originate from the interaction of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. North Norwat shares a border with Russia.