Arctic Circle

American  

noun

1. an imaginary line drawn parallel to the equator, at 23°28prime; S of the North Pole: between the North Frigid Zone and the North Temperate Zone.

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Arctic Circle British  

noun

1. the imaginary circle round the earth, parallel to the equator, at latitude 66° 32′ N; it marks the northernmost point at which the sun appears above the level of the horizon on the winter solstice

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Arctic Circle Scientific  

/ ärk′tĭk /

1. The parallel of latitude approximately 66°33′ north. It forms the boundary between the North Temperate and North Frigid zones.

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Arctic Circle Cultural  

1. Imaginary circle around the Earth about three-quarters of the way from the equator to the North Pole. North of this line is the “Land of the Midnight Sun,” where the sun never sets on the summer solstice.

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Discover More

The Arctic Circle corresponds to the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere.

Example Sentences

The resulting images capture mountains and fjords dissolving into sky, rendered in the deep azure light of the Arctic Circle.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026

There was no escape for Europe's traditionally cold regions either, with Alpine glaciers continuing to lose ice and temperatures in the Arctic Circle reaching 30C in July.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

In the space of just over a month, three massive football names, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and now Inter Milan, have fallen to Bodo/Glimt -- a small Norwegian club based inside the Arctic Circle.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

The mayor of the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen—around four hours from Barentsburg by snowmobile—swept his hand over a map of the Arctic Circle on a recent morning.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

The nation’s entire nuclear arsenal was dependent on only two sources: a single rapidly depleting mine in the Belgian Congo and another in Canada, near the Arctic Circle.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik