Arctic Circle


The Arctic Circle

By:  Joyce K, Erin F, and Melissa K

 

The Arctic Circle is one out of the five most important lines of latitude that mark out all of the maps of the Earth. It is located at 66° 33′ 39″ (or 66.56083°) north of the Equator. Russia has an important territory inside of the Arctic Circle, followed by Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska). There is a very small amount of people living within the Arctic Circle. The three biggest towns that are above the Arctic Circle are located in Russia. They are Murmansk, Norilsk, and Vorkuta.

 

 

 

 

  1. The Arctic Circle
  2. Norilsk
  3. Vorkuta
  4. Murmansk

 

Norilsk

 

Winters in this cold city, sends the temperature plunging to negative 45 degrees Fahrenheit and drops the sun out of site for months at a time. Stalin, who dispatched hundreds of thousands of political prisoners here to extract the metal ore from mines so deep they seemed to run to the very center of the Earth, was the founder of this city. Later, Norilsk became a notorious example of wasteful communist planning, a place in which the air and water were fouled with dangerous chemicals that even now make breathing difficult. 

 

                                 

 

 

 

Vorkuta

 

  Vorkuta is located in Northwestern Russia, on the Vorkuta River. It is known as a coal mining town. Way back in 1932 after the World War two, coal mining became a very common job.  The coal mining bussiness didn't do much success until after the horrifiying war.  Where the coal mining industry took place, some of the mining land was used for forced-labor camps that Josef Stalin requested. It had its origin in one of the more non famuos labor camp of the Gulag which was established in 1932.

 

 

 

 

 

Murmansk

 

Murmansk is a large town in Russia.  This town is extreamly in the northwestern part of russia. It is north of the Arctic Circle and it also lies on the eastern shore of Kola Bay.  It has a sea port of the bay too, and it is always not frosen because of the North Atlantic drift. The town was founded in 1915 used for a supply port in World War I.  It was a base for the British, French, and American expeditionary forces that were against the Bolsheviks in the year of 1918.  In World War II, Murmansk served as the force's main port. This City is an imortant  navy base, and is the largest city above the Arctic Circle.

 

                   

 

 

 

Area

14 million sq km

Location

 Near Europe and parts of Russia

Lattitude & Longitude

Latitude- 66.5 degreesN

Longitude-

Population

  142,893,540 (in 2006)

 

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 Below is a map of Russia.