Polar Peculiarities Trivia Quiz

Answer: South Pole

Both poles are famous for being cold, Antarctica is even more famous for holding the record of lowest temperature ever: -90 C (-130 F). Yearly averages hover around -50 C (-60 F) for most places in central Antarctica, while in the Antarctic winter -65 C (-85 F) is quite normal.
Compared to this, the average temperature on the North Pole of between -40 C (-40 F) and 0 C (30 F) are quite balmy. Even more so if you consider that the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere is quite far from the North Pole.
The Siberian towns of Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon compete for the title of coldest place in the North with average January temperatures of -50 C (-60 F), which is a temperature rarely seen on the North Pole. Then again, in July temperatures there can reach more than +30 C (+90 F), a temperature definitely never seen on the North Pole.

Answer: The North Pole is on water, the South Pole is on land.

The North Polar Region consists mainly of a large sea called the Arctic Ocean. The North Pole itself is almost in the middle of said ocean, which means that if it wasn't ice almost all the time, you would need a boat to get there.
The South Polar Region consists mainly of a large landmass called the Antarctic Continent. There are many mountain ranges but most of the land is hidden under ice. While the North Pole's ice shelf is several meters thick, the ice thickness at the South Pole is several kilometers.

Answer: No, they are as dry as a desert.

They are not only dry as deserts, they ARE deserts. The air is simply too cold to hold any moisture. Also, because of all the ice covering the seas, the way for any clouds travelling all the way from open water to the poles is too far.
Since the North Pole is warmer than the South Pole and because of oceanic currents, the North Pole is less dry than the South Pole.
Just for comparison: the amount of precipitation on Vostok Research Station, South Pole, is the same as Death Valley, USA.

Answer: True

The difference is quite striking.
Since most of the north polar regions is sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean, most of it is at sea level. Contrary to that, Antarctica is several kilometers worth of glacial ice covering the continent. The Amundsen-Scott Base on the South Pole is at a height of 2,835 meters (9,300 ft). That is higher than any city in North America or Europe. Only a handful of cities in South America and Asia reach that height (Quito, La Paz, Lhasa and such).

Answer: more than 1 million

Actually, a lot more than 1 million.
In Scandinavia alone about ten million live north of the 60 degree line, five million more in Russia, and another one million in North America.
As said before, the climate is a lot milder in the North compared to Antarctica, mainly because of the warmth of the Gulf Stream and the closeness to open water.
Most importantly, humans have had access to the north polar regions for many thousands of years, while they only have been exploring the south polar regions for about 200 years.

Answer: 6 months

Standing on the North Pole, you would see the sun rise on March 21, steadily climbing until it reaches its highest point on June 21, then slowly descending until September 23, after which it will be night for half a year. On that long polar day, the sun will make about 182 circles around your head.

Answer: True

Asia, Europe and Africa are connected to North and South America by the (walkable) North Polar Icecap. In theory, you could walk from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro via the North Pole (although climate change might give you wet feet in the foreseeable future). Antarctica has water all around it and the only place you can reach by foot from the South Pole are other places on Antarctica.

Answer: Research stations on the North Pole will eventually sink into the sea.

The North Pole is just a huge sheet of ice, it isn't stationary. It wanders, very slowly, but steadily. You could build a research station at the North Pole, but you can never know where that station would be ten years later. Chances are that it wanders off to lower latitudes until it reaches the end of the ice and drops into the sea. Global warming isn't very helpful keeping ice stations safe either.

Answer: The Antarctic Peninsula

The Ross and Ronne Ice Shelves are just ice on sea, and seas can't be claimed. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, or Marie Byrd Land, is somewhat surprisingly not claimed by anyone (or rather, no claims have been recognised, Antarctic politics are complicated). Wilkes Land is claimed by Australia and no one else seems to be interested in it.
By far the biggest prize is the Antarctic Peninsula, claimed by Chile, Argentina and the UK. Even Brazil has an (unrecognised) claim.

Answer: All

Since the South Pole is the place where all time zones come together, it lies in all time zones, or none. Walking around the South Pole you would have to reset your watch every step you take. It must be fun being able to cross the date line twice a minute.
For convenience sake, the people in Amundsen-Scott base (and others) use New Zealand time, because supply flights come from Christchurch, New Zealand.