1997 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1997 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total: 14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative
slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US; smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)
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
Coastline
45,389 km
Elevation extremes
lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues
endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage
Environment - international agreements
party to : none of the selected agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geographic coordinates
90 00 N, 0 00 E
Geography - 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
Location
body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle
Map references
Arctic Region
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
Natural resources
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)
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)
Government
Data code
none; the US Government has not approved a standard for hydrographic codes - see the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes appendix
Economy
Economy - overview
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Communications
Telephone system
international: no submarine cables
Transportation
Ports and harbors
Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Transportation - note
sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international
some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia ______________________________________________________________________ ARGENTINA