Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean as the 1996 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 16 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Geography
Body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle
11 fieldsNote
International disputes
some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia
Climate
- 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
Terrain
- central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size;
- 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 land masses;
- 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 Lomonsov Ridge)
- lowest point:
- Fram Basin -4,665 m
- highest point:
- sea level 0 m
Natural resources
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)
Environment
- current issues:
- endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage
- natural hazards:
- ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island;
- icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada;
- permafrost in islands;
- virtually icelocked from October to June;
- ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May
- international agreements:
- NA
Geographic note
- 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
Government
1 fieldData code
none; the US Government has not approved a standard for hydrographic codes - see the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes appendix
Economy
Economic activity is limited to the | exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, | fish, and seals.
1 fieldEconomic overview
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Transportation
2 fieldsTransportation note
sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways
Communications
1 fieldCite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Arctic Ocean.” The World Factbook 1996. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/arctic-ocean/1996.