Pretend for a moment that the Earth is a giant apple. If you pierced a stick or pole through the centre of the apple, the pole would exit the apple in two places. It will come out of the top and bottom. These two places have special names on Earth. The top part is called the North Pole and the bottom part is called the South Pole.
Both the North and South Poles are very cold but the North Pole is warmer than the South. This is because the North Pole lies in the middle of an ocean which helps keep some of the heat in. The South Pole, on the other hand, lies much higher up, on a land called Antarctica.
Day and night
The Earth is slightly tilted in space when it orbits the Sun. This tilt means the poles are sometimes far away from the Sun.
When the North Pole is pointed away from the Sun, it has 6 months of darkness. When the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun, it has 6 months of light.
The two North Poles
There are 2 North Poles located in the Arctic:
Geographic North Pole or 'True North' is the northernmost point on the Earth. It’s about 450 miles (725km) north of Greenland.
North Magnetic Pole is where compass needles point. It is located south of the Geographic North Pole but its exact location moves about 80km every year.
The North Star
Above the North Pole is a star called the North Star or Polaris. People use the North star to tell how far north they are by seeing how high the star is in the sky.
Who discovered the North Pole?
Robert Peary claimed he reached the North Pole in 1909 but nobody really knows for sure if he did.
Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile were the first proven people to reach the North Pole in 1926. They flew over the pole by plane.
Did you know?
- Every summer the Arctic snow bunting and the Arctic tern (two types of birds) travel to the North Pole in summer to breed.
- All the lines of longitude meet at the North Pole.
