The Arctic Circle Multiple Choice Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Parts of how many independent countries lie north of the Arctic Circle?

Answer: 7

Those countries are the United States (Alaska), Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Russia. You might be thinking also of Greenland, however Greenland itself is not an independent country, but a dependency of Denmark.

2. What is the most northerly island of Canada?

Answer: Ellesmere

Ellesmere is the northernmost island in Canada, protruding into the Lincoln sea with Greenland into the extreme North. In fact, Ellesmere follows only Greenland as the secondmost northern island in the world.

3. Many major Russian rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean, north of the Arctic Circle. Which one, however, flows into the Laptev Sea?

Answer: Lena

The Lena River delta forms a peninsula in the Laptev Sea near the city of Tiksi. The North Dvina flows into the White Sea, a gulf that, in contrast, helps form the Kola peninsula. Both the Ob and the Yenisey flow into the Kara Sea, helping to carve out the Yamal and Gyda Peninsulas, respectively.

4. There are many very large islands that lie in the north, packed between mounds of ice in the winter seasons. But my question to you is, do you know how many of the world's top ten largest islands (by area) lie either partially or completely north of the circle?

Answer: Four

Those four islands are Greenland, Victoria, Baffin, and Ellesmere. (All of the last three belong to Canada). Greenland and Baffin exist only partially above the circle while Victoria and Ellesmere lie completely within it.

Excluding Australia...

The ten largest islands are:
1. Greenland [Denmark]
2. New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea)
3. Borneo (Indonesia)
4. Baffin (Canada)
5. Madagascar
6. Sumatra (Indonesia)
7. Honshu (Japan)
8. Great Britain (United Kingdom)
9. Victoria (Canada)
10. Ellesmere (Canada)

5. Another significant island group in the North is Svalbard. Svalbard is a territory of Norway, situated between the Greenland and Barents Seas. Also, the capital of Svalbard is Ny-Alesund. Is this last statement about the capital true?

Answer: No

Ny-Alesund is the northernmost settlement in the world.

The capital of Svalbard is actually Longyearbyen, which is also the northernmost settlement housing over 1,000 people; it has a population of 1,200.

6. The northernmost National Park in the United States lies just north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. It passes through the Brooks Mountain Range. It is a haven for caribou, dall sheep, wolves, and bears. Can you identify it?

Answer: Gates of the Arctic

Glacier National Park shares land between the American state of Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. Kobuk National Park lies southwest of Gates of the Arctic and just north of the Seward Peninsula and Kotzebue Sound. Denali National Park is also in Alaska, but it lies in the south-central part of the state. It contains Mt. Denali (more commonly known as Mt. McKinley), the tallest mountain in North America.

For more information on Gates of the Arctic, visit http://www.nps.gov/gaar.

7. If one were to travel from the city of Inuvik to the city of Murmansk, what countries (or territories) would he be traveling to and from?

Answer: Canada to Russia

Inuvik is a city in the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories, and the capital of the Inuvik region. Murmansk is the most populous city on the Kola Peninsula, a haven for many old Soviet submarines.

8. Does Finland border the Arctic Ocean?

Answer: No

Norway spans all the northern end of the Scandinavian Peninsula; it borders Russia on the Kola Peninsula. Sweden is also cut off from Arctic waters. Both countries only have small realms of presence in the circle, anyway.

9. Which one of these seas is not part of the Arctic Ocean (north of the Arctic Circle)?

Answer: Bering Sea

The Arctic Circle passes through the Bering Strait, just north of the Seward Peninsula (Alaska), the Chukchi Peninsula (Russia) and the Bering Sea itself.

The Beaufort Sea spans the north across the shores of Alaska and the Northwest Territory. The Kara is the sea north of Russia that The Ob and Yenisey rivers flow into. Finally, the East Siberian Sea lies, well, north of East Siberia.

10. There are many Arctic Russian islands that have been named for important historical figures or events. Can you pick the imaginary island from the list below?

Answer: Lenin Island

Contrary to what you might have believed, Graham Bell Island does exist; Lenin Island is the "odd one out" instead.

October Revolution Island and Bolshevik Island are both part of the Severnaya Zemlya island group, north of the Taymyr Peninsula and between the Laptev and Kara Seas.

Graham Bell Island, along with others such as Rudolph Is., George Is., and Alexandra Is., is a part of Franz Josef Land, the northernmost island group of Russia.

Thanks for playing! I hope you learned something interesting. :)

Source: Author biohazard930

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LilahDeDah before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Arctic Circle Multiple Choice Quiz | Geography

This quiz deals with the geography of the area north of the Arctic Circle. I hope you've not grown cold with your Arctic knowledge!

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