View source for Arctic Alaska

{{short description|Northern region of Alaska}}
[[File:Arctic circle.svg|thumb|upright|Map of the Arctic region, Alaska is in the upper left side, the [[Arctic Circle]] is shown in blue.]]
[[File:Arctic Circle sign.jpg|thumb|200px|Sign indicating the point where the [[Dalton Highway]] crosses the Arctic Circle]]
{{No footnotes|date=December 2015}}
'''Arctic Alaska''' or '''Far North Alaska'''  is a [[region]] of the [[United States|U.S.]] [[U.S. state|state]] of [[Alaska]] generally referring to the northern areas on or close to the [[Arctic Ocean]]. 

It commonly includes [[North Slope Borough, Alaska|North Slope Borough]], [[Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska|Northwest Arctic Borough]], [[Nome Census Area, Alaska|Nome Census Area]], and is sometimes taken to include parts of the [[Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska|Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area]]. Some notable [[town]]s there include [[Prudhoe Bay, Alaska|Prudhoe Bay]], [[Utqiaġvik]], [[Kotzebue, Alaska|Kotzebue]], [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]] and [[Galena, Alaska|Galena]], although some of these are not in the [[Arctic Circle]] proper.  

Most of these communities have no [[highway]]s and can only be reached by [[aircraft]] or [[snowmobile]] in good [[weather]]. Originally inhabited by various [[Alaska Native]] groups living off hunting, whaling, or [[salmon]] [[fishing]], modern settlement in Arctic Alaska was driven first by discoveries of [[gold]] and later on by the [[extraction of petroleum]].

The [[ecosystem]] consists largely of [[tundra]] covering [[mountain range]]s and [[coastal plain]]s which are home to [[bear]]s, [[Alaskan tundra wolf|wolves]], [[sheep]], [[muskox]]en, [[Porcupine caribou|caribou]], and numerous [[species]] of [[bird]]s, the north coast has been defined as the [[Arctic coastal tundra]] ecoregion. Arctic Alaska is also the location of the [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve]], [[Kobuk Valley National Park]] and the [[National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska]]. The Arctic experiences [[midnight sun]] in the summer and [[polar night]] in the winter. 

==Climate==

Most of northern Alaska has an Arctic climate with long, extremely cold winters and short, cool summers. The average temperatures during the summer months are only several degrees above freezing and the average temperatures during winter are as low as {{convert|-20 to -30|F}}, and can dip to {{convert|-50 to -60|F}}.

==See also==
* [[Arctic Policy of the United States]]
* [[U.S. Arctic Research Commission]]
* [[North American Arctic]]

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Arctic Alaska}}
* [https://alaska.gov/kids/learn/region.htm Regions of Alaska, including description of Far North Alaska]

{{Alaska}}
{{Arctic topics}}
{{Polar regions}}
{{coord|70|-154|region:US-AK|display=title}}

[[Category:Regions of Alaska]]
[[Category:Regions of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Coasts of the Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Coasts of the United States| North]]
[[Category:Tourism regions of Alaska]]

{{Alaska-geo-stub}}