Earth's Arctic and Antarctic Regions showing location of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the geographic North and South Poles. Click on image for full size (74 Kb) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Lisa Gardiner using images from NASA.

Location
The polar regions are the areas that surround Earth’s geographic North and South Poles. The area surrounding the geographic North Pole is called the Arctic and includes almost the entire Arctic Ocean and northern areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The area surrounding the geographic South Pole is called the Antarctic and includes the continent of Antarctica and parts of the surrounding Southern Ocean. Earth's geographic poles are in a slightly different location than the magnetic poles.

• The Arctic region extends from the North Pole to the Arctic Circle (66.5°N latitude).
• The Antarctic region extends from the South Pole to the Antarctic Circle (66.5°S latitude).

Day and Night
Because of the tilt of Earth’s axis, the Sun shines for half the year and it is dark for the other half of the year right at the Poles. This makes a year like one long day; the Sun rises in spring, reaches its highest point in the sky in summer, and sets in autumn. So the Sun is only visible only during the warmer months of the year. When the Sun is visible during summer at the South Pole, it is the dark winter months at the North Pole.

At the Arctic and Antarctic Circles there is just one day when the Sun does not set and one day when it does not rise. The Sun does not set on the summer solstice (June 21 in the north and December 21 in the south) and does not rise on the winter solstice (December 21 for the north and June 21 for the south). In the weeks prior to the winter solstice, the number of hours with daylight become fewer and fewer until on the winter solstice day when the Sun does not rise at all for a day. After the winter solstice the amount of daylight increases each day until the summer solstice when the Sun does not set at all for one day.

The time when the Sun is continuously in the sky is called Polar Day. In locations that are between the Arctic Circle and North Pole, or between the Antarctic Circle and South Pole, the length of the Polar Day is between one day and six months long depending on how close the location is to the Pole.

Earth's Arctic and Antarctic Regions showing location of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the geographic North and South Poles. Click on image for full size (74 Kb) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Lisa Gardiner using images from NASA.

Location
The polar regions are the areas that surround Earth’s geographic North and South Poles. The area surrounding the North Pole is called the Arctic and includes almost the entire Arctic Ocean and northern areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The area surrounding the South Pole is called the Antarctic and includes the continent of Antarctica and parts of the surrounding Southern Ocean. Earth's geographic poles are in a slightly different location than the magnetic poles

• The Arctic region extends from the North Pole to the Arctic Circle (66.5°N latitude).
• The Antarctic region extends from the South Pole to the Antarctic Circle (66.5°S latitude).

Day and Night
If you live in a place that is far from the equator, you may have noticed that during winter there are fewer hours of sunlight than during summer. This is because of the tilt of Earth’s axis. Earth's tilt is the reason for the seasons. The closer you are to one of Earth’s poles, the less sunlight there is during winter days. At the Arctic and Antarctic Circles there is one full day when the Sun does not set and one day when it does not rise. The Sun does not set on the summer solstice (June 21 in the north and December 21 in the south) and does not rise on the winter solstice (December 21 for the north and June 21 for the south). In the weeks prior to the winter solstice, the number of hours with sunlight become fewer and fewer until on the winter solstice when the Sun does not rise at all for a day. After the winter solstice the amount of daylight increases each day until the summer solstice when the Sun does not set at all for one day.

Right at the Poles, the Sun shines for half the year and it is dark for the other half of the year. This makes a year like one long day. The Sun rises in spring, reaches its highest point in the sky in summer, and sets in autumn. So the Sun is visible only during the warmer months of the year. When the Sun is visible during summer at the South Pole, it is the dark winter months at the North Pole. The time when the Sun is continuously in the sky is called Polar Day.

Earth's Arctic and Antarctic Regions showing location of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the geographic North and South Poles. Click on image for full size (74 Kb) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Lisa Gardiner using images from NASA.

The Polar Regions are the areas that are near Earth's North and South Poles.

• The area near the North Pole is called the Arctic. Most of the Arctic is ocean water with ice on it. The ocean is called the Arctic Ocean. There is also some land in the Arctic including the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.
• The area near the South Pole is called the Antarctic. Most of the Antarctic is land, not ocean. The land is the continent of Antarctica. There is an ocean around Antarctica called the Southern Ocean.

Day and Night
If you live in a place that is far from the equator, you may have noticed that during winter there are fewer hours of daylight each day than in summer. During summer you might have found that the Sun does not set until after you eat dinner. During winter you might have found that the Sun sets before you eat dinner. This is because of the tilt of Earth’s axis. Earth's tilt is the reason for the seasons. The closer you are to one of the Poles, the less daylight there is during winter days.

Right at the Poles, the Sun shines for the entire summer and it is dark for the entire winter. This makes a year like one long day! The Sun rises in spring, reaches its highest point in the sky in summer, and sets in autumn. So the Sun is only in the sky during the warmer months of the year. When the Sun is in the sky at the South Pole, it is the dark winter months at the North Pole.