A bit about the Arctic itself

We have been asked "Can you drive to the Arctic?"   So to clarify the situation, and to give you invaluable statistics, here's a little explanation of the Arctic (and a link to Wikipedia if you're seriously nerdy).

The Arctic is not just the North Polar Ice Cap.   The Arctic is defined as the area north of 66 degrees 33 minutes North, which was selected because it is the line above which the sun never sets in mid-northern-summer (and never rises in mid-winter).   It includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, US, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

So yes, we can drive far far into the Arctic Circle just by staying on the Norwegian coast road.

Within the Arctic, the top summer temperature never quite gets up to 10°C. Brhhhhh.



PS:  The name Arctic comes from a Greek word for "bear" and relates to the Ursa Major/Ursa Minor constellations which are more visible in that region.  You German speakers would know that Urs is the German for a Bear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic