Countries in the Arctic Circle
The eight countries with land north of the Arctic Circle, the same eight that make up the Arctic Council, from Alaska to Chukotka, with Iceland’s share a single small island.
8 countriesAs of September 2026Short notes, not sourcedSuggest a correction
The Arctic Circle lies at about 66.5° N. North of it the sun stays up for at least one whole day around the June solstice, the midnight sun, and doesn’t rise for at least one day around the December solstice, the polar night. The line isn’t fixed: it follows the tilt of the Earth’s axis and is drifting north by about 14 m a year.
Only about four million people live north of it, around half of them in Russia, where Murmansk and Norilsk are the largest cities anywhere in the Arctic. The eight countries with land inside it form the Arctic Council, set up in 1996 to work together on the environment and the region’s peoples.
North America3
United StatesThrough Alaska, where Utqiaġvik, the northernmost town in the United States, has about two months without sunrise each winter.
CanadaIts north, including much of Nunavut and the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, is inside the circle.
DenmarkThrough Greenland, most of which lies north of the circle. Its capital, Nuuk, is just south of it.
Europe4
IcelandThe mainland stops just short. The circle crosses only Grímsey, a small island about 40 km off the north coast.
NorwayIts north, and the islands of Svalbard, where Longyearbyen is one of the northernmost towns in the world. Tromsø holds a film festival in the polar night.
SwedenIts far north is part of Lapland, the home of the Sámi, and has the iron-ore town of Kiruna, which is being moved a few kilometres because the mine beneath it is swallowing the ground.
FinlandThe circle runs through Santa Claus Village on the edge of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, which calls itself Santa’s official hometown.
Asia1
RussiaHas the largest share of the Arctic, and about half its people. The Northern Sea Route along its coast is becoming a shipping lane as the sea ice thins.
Close calls
Arctic Circle and Arctic Ocean
Finland and Sweden reach the Arctic Circle but have no Arctic Ocean coast, while Iceland’s north coast faces the Arctic Ocean although only Grímsey reaches the circle. The Grid has separate clues for the two.
Near the Arctic
The United Kingdom, whose Shetland Islands are about 600 km short of the circle, calls itself the Arctic’s nearest neighbour. China calls itself a near-Arctic state, although its northern tip is over 1,400 km short. Both are observers at the Arctic Council.
More country lists
- Amazon rainforest countries
- Andean countries
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