The North Pole is the northernmost point on Earth, where the planet’s axis of rotation meets its surface at latitude 90° North.
Geographic North Pole
The geographic North Pole (also called the True North Pole) is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where Earth’s axis of rotation intersects the surface. It lies at exactly 90° North latitude, and all lines of longitude converge there, so every direction from the Pole is south.
Unlike the South Pole, which sits on the continent of Antarctica, the North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, covered by shifting sea ice, not on solid land. The nearest land is Kaffeklubben Island off northern Greenland, about 700 km (430 mi) away, and the closest permanently inhabited place is Alert, Canada, roughly 817 km (508 mi) from the Pole.
What’s Actually There?
At the North Pole itself, there is no permanent land or fixed structure; it is a point on the drifting pack ice of the Arctic Ocean, usually 6–10 feet (2–3 meters) thick, floating over water about 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep. Because the ice moves, no permanent marker can be placed exactly at the Pole, though temporary camps and scientific stations are sometimes set up nearby.
The seabed beneath the Pole has been visited by submersibles, and in 2007 a Russian expedition planted a titanium flag on the ocean floor there, but there is no permanent human settlement at the North Pole.
Climate and Daylight
The North Pole experiences extreme seasonal light: about six months of continuous daylight around the summer solstice and six months of continuous darkness around the winter solstice. Temperatures are very cold year‑round, but because it is over the ocean, the North Pole is generally warmer than the South Pole, which sits on a high, dry ice sheet.
Other “North Poles”
There are also other poles with similar names:
- Magnetic North Pole : The point where Earth’s magnetic field points vertically downward; this is where a compass needle points, and it currently lies in northern Canada, slowly drifting over time.
- Geomagnetic North Pole : The northern end of Earth’s idealized dipole magnetic field, used in space and atmospheric science.
- Celestial North Pole : The point in the sky directly above Earth’s geographic North Pole, around which the stars appear to rotate.
In everyday language, “the North Pole” usually means the geographic North Pole in the Arctic Ocean.
