The North Pole

geography · Arctic · Earth's axis · navigation

Earth's spinning top. The North Pole is where Earth's axis of rotation meets the surface, kind of like the top point of a spinning top. Imagine a pole going straight through Earth from north to south, and the North Pole is at the very top.

Frozen ocean home. The North Pole sits on the Arctic Ocean, covered in thick sea ice that shifts and moves with currents. In summer, some ice melts, but the cold stays extreme all year long.

True vs. magnetic. There's also a Magnetic North Pole, which is different from the Geographic North Pole. Compass needles point to the magnetic one, which moves around over time, while the true North Pole stays fixed.

Hardest to reach. Getting to the North Pole is incredibly difficult because of ice, extreme cold, and dangerous conditions. Explorers have been trying to reach it for hundreds of years, making it one of Earth's greatest adventures.

Polar bears nearby. While the North Pole itself is just ice and ocean, polar bears live in the Arctic regions around it. These amazing swimmers and hunters depend on sea ice to hunt seals.