Geography
What are the polar regions?
Quick answer
The polar regions are the freezing areas around the North and South Poles. The Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land, and Antarctica is a continent surrounded by ocean.
In one sentence
The polar regions are the very cold lands and seas around the North Pole (the Arctic) and the South Pole (Antarctica).
Explained
Earth's poles are the ends of its axis, the line it spins around. The Sun is always low in the sky there, so they receive less heat, and they are covered in ice and snow.
penguin
bear
snow
The Arctic is mostly an ocean, the Arctic Ocean, covered by a floating layer of sea ice. It is surrounded by the northern edges of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Russia and Scandinavia. People live in the Arctic. The Inuit, Sámi and other Indigenous peoples have lived there for thousands of years. Animals include polar bears, Arctic foxes, walruses, reindeer (called caribou in North America) and narwhals.
Antarctica is the opposite: a continent, covered by a thick ice sheet, surrounded by the Southern Ocean. No people live there permanently, only researchers. Penguins, seals and whales live along its coast. See Antarctica for more.
Both regions have a very unusual year. In summer the Sun may stay up for weeks or months, the midnight sun. In winter there are weeks or months of darkness, called the polar night. The seasons at the two poles are opposite: when it is summer at the North Pole, it is winter at the South Pole.
Antarctica is colder than the Arctic. The Arctic Ocean's water brings some warmth, but Antarctica is a high, icy landmass. The Arctic is warming faster than almost anywhere else, and its sea ice is shrinking. That matters for animals that hunt on ice and for sea levels. See also oceans.
Examples
| Arctic | Antarctic | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | ocean surrounded by land | land surrounded by ocean |
| People | live there | researchers only |
| Famous animal | polar bear | emperor penguin |
| Pole | North | South |
Common mistakes
- Putting penguins and polar bears together. They live at opposite ends of the planet.
- "The poles are the same." They are different in geography, life and temperature.
- "It is always dark." The Sun shines all day in summer.
Quick quiz
The Arctic and Antarctic
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
Which pole is an ocean surrounded by land?
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For grown-ups
Related topics
Antarctica
Antarctica is the frozen continent around the South Pole. It is the coldest, windiest and driest continent, covered by ice, and has no permanent residents.
Climate
Climate is the usual pattern of weather in a place over many years, usually 30 or more. Weather is what is happening in the sky today.
Oceans
Oceans are the huge bodies of salt water that cover most of Earth. There are five: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic.
Glaciers
A glacier is a huge, slow-moving river of ice. It forms on land where more snow falls than melts, and it carves valleys as it creeps downhill.
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest continent, with 54 countries, the Sahara Desert, the River Nile, the Congo rainforest and savannas full of wildlife.
The Amazon River
The Amazon is a huge river in South America that carries more water than any other river on Earth. It flows about 6,400 km from the Andes across Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean.