What is the difference between the Arctic and Antarctica?
The Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by land at the top of the world, while Antarctica is a continent of land covered by thick ice, surrounded by ocean at the bottom of the world.
The Arctic is centered on the Arctic Ocean, much of which is covered by floating sea ice. It is surrounded by the northern parts of North America, Europe and Asia, and about four million people live there. Polar bears, Arctic foxes, walruses and reindeer are found in the Arctic.
Antarctica is a continent about 14 million square kilometers in size, covered by an ice sheet averaging about 2 kilometers thick. It is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, with no permanent human population except scientists at research stations. Penguins live there, but no polar bears.
Colder in the south
Antarctica is much colder than the Arctic, because it is high land covered by ice, while the Arctic is ocean, which holds heat. The lowest natural temperature ever recorded, about minus 89 degrees Celsius, was measured at Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica in 1983.
Did You Know?
The name Antarctica means opposite the Arctic. Arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, after the constellation Ursa Major in the northern sky.