Arctic Circle

[5] Its latitude depends on Earth's axial tilt, which fluctuates by a margin of some 2° over a 41,000-year period, due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon.

Rovaniemi (62,667) in Finland is the largest settlement in the immediate vicinity of the Arctic Circle, lying 6 km (4 mi) south of the line.

In the United States, Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) is the largest settlement north of the Arctic Circle with about 5,000 inhabitants.

The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey).

The climate north of the Arctic Circle is generally cold, but the coastal areas of Norway have a generally mild climate as a result of the Gulf Stream, which makes the ports of northern Norway and northwest Russia ice-free all year long.