Arctic Alaska - Misplaced Pages

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Arctic Alaska or Far North Alaska is a region of the U.S. state of Alaska generally referring to the northern areas on or close to the Arctic Ocean.

It commonly includes North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Nome Census Area, and is sometimes taken to include parts of the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. Some notable towns there include Prudhoe Bay, Utqiaġvik, Kotzebue, Nome and Galena, although some of these are not in the Arctic Circle proper.

Most of these communities have no highways and can only be reached by aircraft or snowmobile in good weather. Originally inhabited by various Alaska Native groups living off hunting, whaling, or salmon fishing, modern settlement in Arctic Alaska was driven first by discoveries of gold and later on by the extraction of petroleum.

The ecosystem consists largely of tundra covering mountain ranges and coastal plains which are home to bears, wolves, sheep, muskoxen, caribou, and numerous species of birds, the north coast has been defined as the Arctic coastal tundra ecoregion. Arctic Alaska is also the location of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park and the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska. The Arctic experiences midnight sun in the summer and polar night in the winter.

Climate

Most of northern Alaska has an Arctic climate with long, extremely cold winters and short, cool summers. The average temperatures during the summer months are only several degrees above freezing and the average temperatures during winter are as low as −20 to −30 °F (−29 to −34 °C), and can dip to −50 to −60 °F (−46 to −51 °C).

External links

Regions of Alaska, including description of Far North Alaska

v t e State of Alaska
Juneau (capital)
Topics	Index Climate Geography Geology Earthquakes Government Delegations History Music People Symbols Transportation Wildlife
Society	Abortion Cannabis Climate change Crime Demographics Economy Education Elections Gun laws Homelessness LGBT rights Rural dentistry Politics Sports
Regions	The Bush Arctic Aleutian Islands Alaska Peninsula North Slope Southwest Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta Inside Passage Interior Kenai Peninsula Mat‑Su Valley Seward Peninsula Southcentral Southeast Tanana Valley
Largest cities pop. over 25,000	Anchorage Fairbanks Juneau
Smaller cities pop. over 2,000	Bethel Cordova Dillingham Homer Kenai Ketchikan Kodiak Kotzebue Nome North Pole Palmer Petersburg Seward Sitka Soldotna Unalaska Valdez Wasilla Wrangell Utqiaġvik
Boroughs	Aleutians East Anchorage Bristol Bay Denali Fairbanks North Star Haines Juneau Kenai Peninsula Ketchikan Gateway Kodiak Island Lake and Peninsula Matanuska‑Susitna North Slope Northwest Arctic Petersburg Sitka Skagway Wrangell Yakutat Unorganized
Native corporations	Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation NANA Regional Corporation Calista Corporation Doyon, Limited Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Bristol Bay Native Corporation The Aleut Corporation Chugach Alaska Corporation Sealaska Corporation Koniag, Incorporated Ahtna, Incorporated The 13th Regional Corporation
Census Areas	Aleutians West Bethel Chugach Copper River Dillingham Hoonah–Angoon Kusilvak Nome Prince of Wales–Hyder Southeast Fairbanks Yukon–Koyukuk
Alaska portal

v t e Arctic topics
History	Arctic exploration Arctic research History of whaling
Government	Arctic Council Arctic cooperation and politics Arctic Ocean Conference Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route Ilulissat Declaration Inuit Circumpolar Council Saami Council Territorial claims in the Arctic United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Geography	Arctic Archipelago Arctic Circle Arctic Cordillera Arctic ecology Arctic Ocean Arctic Cyclone Greenland ice sheet Impact craters of the Arctic Innuitian Region Nordicity North Pole Populated places in the Arctic Tundra
Geology	Canadian Arctic Rift System Eurekan orogeny Greenland Plate Innuitian orogeny Queen Elizabeth Islands Subplate Southeast Bathurst Fault Zone Ungava Fault Zone
Regions	Arctic Alaska British Arctic Territories Canadian Arctic Archipelago Finnmark Greenland Iceland Inuvialuit Karelia Komi Northern Canada Northwest Territories Nunavik Nunavut Nunatsiavut Russian Arctic North Sakha Sápmi Yukon North American Arctic
Climate	Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Arctic dipole anomaly Arctic haze Arctic oscillation Arctic sea ice decline ecology and history Arctic methane emissions Climate change in the Arctic Climate of Alaska Effects of global warming on marine mammals Polar climate Polar amplification Polar vortex
Fauna	Arctic fox Beluga whale Bowhead whale Lemming Muskox Narwhal Polar bear Reindeer Seal bearded harp hooded ribbon ringed Snowy owl Walrus
Flora	Arctic ecology Arctic vegetation Tundra
Culture	Arctic peoples Subarctic peoples Chukchi Chukotka Evenks Karelians Komi Icelandic Inuit Gwich'in Khanty Koryaks Nenets Northern indigenous Russian peoples Sami Selkup Yakuts Yukaghir Arctic Winter Games Quviasukvik (New Year's Day)
Economy	Natural resources Petroleum exploration Arctic Refuge drilling controversy Pollution in the Arctic Ocean Protected areas Transportation
Transport	Arctic Bridge Arctic shipping routes Northeast Passage Northwest Passage Northern Sea Route Polar air route Transpolar Sea Route Search and rescue
Category WikiProject

v t e Earth's polar regions
Antarctic	Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica West Antarctica Eklund Islands Ecozone Extreme points Islands
Arctic	Arctic Alaska British Arctic Territories Canadian Arctic Archipelago Finnmark Greenland Northern Canada Northwest Territories Nunavik Nunavut Russian Arctic Sakha Sápmi Yukon North American Arctic

70°N 154°W / 70°N 154°W / 70; -154

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Climate

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