The Geographic North Pole, also known as True North, is the northernmost point on the Earth. It lies in the Arctic Ocean, which at this point has a depth of 4087 meters. There are 2-3 meter thick ice floes floating on the water at the North Pole.

At the North Pole night occurs continuously for six months, and day occurs continuously for half the year. In summer the temperatures are near 0 centigrade, and in winter the temperature is about -30 centigrade.

The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia. The Inuit, Aleut, Chukchi, Athapaskan and Nenet people are the main groups of Arctic natives. The total populations of indigenous people in the Alaskan and Russian Arctic are about 50,000 and 70,000 respectively.

Several species of animals are unique to the Arctic - polar bear, walrus, musk ox. The agriculture is impossible at the North Pole, and the natives’ diet is based on foods that can be taken from the natural environment.

Over the past two decades, a series of changes have occurred in the Arctic that may be related to global warming. Sea ice and permafrost are decreasing, precipitation patterns are changing, the air is warmer, and the intensity of harmful UVB radiation is increasing. The polar ice is receding at a rate higher than expected, and several countries are making moves to claim the water and seabed at the Pole. Russia made its first claim in 2001, claiming Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain ridge underneath the Pole, as a natural extension of Siberia.