What Are the Northern Arctic Poles?

There are 6 poles and can be catagorised as fixed or wandering.

Fixed Poles:

Pole 1: Geographic North Pole (GNP)

• The one they call the top of the world 90 degrees N
• The tourist route to the GNP is via the Last Degree, Borneo Air Strip set up by the Russians.
• The hard core go from land, either  Canada or Russia
• Debateable who first got there.  Robert Perry is suppose to have sailed there in 1909 but the claim is in dispute; Ronald Amundsen got there in 1926 on an airship called the Norge

Pole 2: Northern Pole of Inaccessibility (NPI)

• Defined as the furthest point from all land, i.e. it is in the middle of the ocean
• Reported at 84°03'N, 174°51'W and confirmed by the Scott Polar Research Institute
• In 1927, Sir Hubert Wilkins is the first person to have got there by airplane
• In 1958, a Russian Icebreaker went there
   
• From the GNP:

- Wikipedia reports this as 411 statute miles or 661 km
- www.marinewaypoints.com/learn/greatcircle.shtml reports this as 409 statute miles or 659 km

Pole 3: Santa's North Pole

• Santa Claus lives here with his elves and helpers making presents for Christmas
• Located in Lapland, Norway

Wandering Poles

Pole 4: Magnetic North Pole (MNP)

• This is the pole that is used by compasses (true North is the MNP)
• In 1831, James Clark Ross first found the MNP at Cape Adelaide on the Boothia Peninsula
• In 1903, Ronald Amundsen located the MNP in a different position
• The polar race uses the 1996 position of the MNP
• Matty McNair helped Top Gear (a British TV show) to race a dog sled against a Toyota Hilux pickup to the MNP
• In 2007, Larry Newitt identified it's position and estimates that for 2008 it will be at 84.0 N, 120 W (about 1100 km from the GNP)
  (See the Natural Resources of Canada for more information)
• From 1970 to current, it has moved from 9 km per year to 40 km per year towards Siberia
• There is keen interest in this pole from the scientific community as it thought to be long overdue for a flip with the Magnetic South Pole

Trivia question: Is the MNP really a South Pole since a compass' North is attracted to it and opposites attract!

Pole 5: Geomagnetic North Pole

• This pole is at the centre of the magnetosphere from which the Aurora Borealis can be seen
• It is located in Greenland and its 2005 position is reported at 79.74° N 71.78° W (See National Geophysical Data Centre)

Pole 6: Celestial North Pole

• This is the Astronomy pole.
• Click here for more information or see here