Polarizing Region

POLITICS Denmark, together with Greenland, is claiming around 906,495 square kilometers (350,000 square miles) of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, in an area that is bigger than Texas and includes the North Pole. (NPR) Use our resources to better understand why the region is so important—and then map it yourself! Teachers, scroll down for a short list of key resources in our Teachers’ … Continue reading Polarizing Region

Geography in the News: The Arctic’s Northeast Passage

By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM Europeans have dreamed of a Northeast Passage through the Arctic Ocean since at least the A.D. 1000s. Efforts to open a year-round Northeast Passage along the Siberian margins of the Arctic Ocean made news in 1998 when an international team used icebreakers in the successful attempt. In 2013, Russia gave permits to 431 ships … Continue reading Geography in the News: The Arctic’s Northeast Passage

#tbt: How A Special Compass Helped Richard Byrd Explore the Poles

By Alyson Foster Content & Collections Specialist, National Geographic Library Welcome to #tbt—ThrowBack Thursday! Today we’re getting geographic (and National Geographic) with a blast from the polar past. Say you’re a sailor or a pilot and you want to get to the North or South Pole. How do you find your way there without getting lost? For those of us living in an age of … Continue reading #tbt: How A Special Compass Helped Richard Byrd Explore the Poles

Kite-Skiing in the Arctic

Not allowing your children to watch television and forcing them to play outside just might turn them into National Geographic Young Explorers. Brother-sister team Sarah and Eric McNair-Landry are no strangers to the frozen north, having grown up exploring it with their adventurous parents. The duo kite-skied more than 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) across Canada’s Arctic archipelago. Fueled by 200 candy bars, theirs was the … Continue reading Kite-Skiing in the Arctic