Arctic Alaska

Some notable towns there include Prudhoe Bay, Utqiaġvik, Kotzebue, Nome and Galena, although some of these are not in the Arctic Circle proper.

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.

The Arctic experiences midnight sun in the summer and polar night in the winter.

Most of northern Alaska has an Arctic climate with long, extremely cold winters and short, cool summers.