The Winds Blow Cold Up Here! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alert, Nunavut

Alert is only 817km (508 miles) from the North Pole and has somewhere between one and ten permanent inhabitants, giving it the distinction of being the most northerly permanently inhabited place in the world. Many people temporarily inhabit Alert as there is a weather station, atmospheric monitoring laboratory, military radio receiving facility and airport to be manned at the site.

The plane crash in October 1991 was a result of misjudgement by the pilot. Four out of the 18 onboard the flight died during the crash with the remaining, except for the pilot, managing to survive for almost 30 hours in blizzard like conditions until they were rescued.

Alert is named for HMS Alert, originally a British naval ship (1856-1884), which wintered not far away from the area. HMS Alert was then loaned to the US Navy in early 1884 (re-named to 'Alert') before being loaned to the Canadian Marine Service of the Department of Marine and Fisheries (re-named 'CGS Alert') in 1888. The ship was sold in late 1894.

Answer: Nord

Station Nord is a scientific and military base approximately 924 km (574 miles) from the North Pole and 1700km (1062 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. There are two stations further north than Nord yet neither is permanently occupied. The only access to Station Nord is by air (the airstrip is open for all but about two months of the year), or foot. Passage by ship is only possible approximately every five or ten years so is not considered an acceptable means of transport to the area.

Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and Narsaq are two of only a handful of settlements in Greenland with more than 1000 inhabitants.

Answer: Eureka, Nunavut

Eureka sees no sun between mid-October and late February and the midnight sun between early April and late August. Eureka is in a polar desert so little precipitation and low evaporation means that there is not a lot of moisture available for wildlife and plants, although it is one of the more abundant areas in the upper regions of the Arctic Circle.

The average summer high temperature is around 8.8 degrees Celsius (47.8F), with a record high, in July 2009, of 20.9 degrees Celsius (69.6F).

Answer: Longyearbyen

Longyearbyen, located on the archipelago of Svalbard, is by some accounts regarded as the northernmost settlement in the world to have a population of more than 1000 and has been home to people of different nationalities since it was first discovered in the 12th century. While there had been conflicts over the years between several nations claiming ownership over the territory, the issue came to the forefront in the 20th century with the discovery of coal and other mineral deposits in the region. The Treaty of Svalbard signed in Paris in 1920 finally gave sovereignty over the area to the Kingdom of Norway. However, citizens of the other signatories to the Treaty also have equal rights over the island.

The other three options are not located above the Arctic Line.

Answer: Cold War

The United States had built an air base at Qaanaaq. In 1953, when the air base was being extended during the Cold War, it was decided to shift the civilian population further north for safety reasons and the new town of Qaanaaq was established. Qaanaaq, formerly known as Thule, is Greenland's northernmost town with a population of around 650 inhabitants in 2011. Since the distance separating this region from northern Canada is only 30 kilometers, the area was regarded as the 'Gateway to Greenland' with a majority of Eskimo migrations passing through it.

Answer: Walrus

Otto Sverdrup explored the region as part of an Arctic expedition in the 1900s. The sounds made by the walrus in the area reminded him of pigs grunting, as a result of which he named the place Grise Fiord. Grise Fiord earlier held the title of 'northernmost settlement in Canada' before it was taken away by the city of Alert, 800 kilometers north, where many of the Canadian Forces began to be stationed.

The city is one of only three permanent settlements on Ellesmere Island.

Answer: Barrow, Alaska

Barrow has long been a destination that has attracted people from the south. Humorist Will Rogers died in a plane crash trying to reach the town in 1935. The site of the city is called Ukpeagvik in the Inupiaq language, which means "the place where we hunt Snowy Owls".

The Inupiat have lived in and around Barrow since approx. AD 500. Europeans came to the area to explore and map the Arctic coastline of North America in the 1800s. The United States Army established a meteorological and magnetic research station at Barrow in 1881, and the Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Station was established in 1893.

The other towns mentioned are not in the Arctic Circle.

Answer: Hammerfest

The town of Hammerfest has a long history, and was an Arctic settlement and fishing town before it was officially founded in 1789. The town has a history of rising from the ashes, literally, having been rebuilt after a bakery fire in 1890 and after being razed by bombing and fires during the Second World War. Hammerfest was also the first northern city to have electric street lights in 1891, which were copied from Paris.

The other towns mentioned are Norwegian villages, but they do not fit the description of the name given in the question.

Answer: Deadhorse, Alaska

As unbelievable as it may seem, Deadhorse is dry. That may be why it has earned the slogan, "All that far and still no bar." None of the three are in the Arctic Circle.

Some additional statistics on the weather in Deadhorse, this most remote of American burgs are:

Longest day: 63 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes (from 12:09 a.m. on May 20 to 11:18 p.m. on July 22)
Shortest day: 45 min (from 11:42 a.m. to 12:27 p.m. on November 24)
Record high temperature: 83 °F (28 °C) on 21 June 1991
Record low temperature: -62 °F (-52 °C) on 27 January 1989
Record highest wind speed: 95 knots (109 mph, 176 km/h) on 25 February 1989

Answer: Vadso, Norway

In the 16th century, Vadso was little more than a few houses forming a small village and a church on a remote Norwegian island. The settlement later moved to the mainland and became a town in 1833. Settlers soon came from Finland, Russia and northern Sweden, because of widespread famine in those areas. Finnish became the language of the majority, and remained so for decades, and the county name shows the cultural fusion: Finnmark. The island of Vadsoya's claim to fame is the airship mast used by Umberto Nobile and Roald Amundsen for their expedition over the North Pole with the airship Norge in 1926.

The other places mentioned as possibilities are all relatively nearby, and are among the northernmost settlements in their countries, but none are within the Arctic Circle.