North Pole is the location in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth’s axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is also referred to as the Geographic North Pole, Terrestrial North Pole, or 90th Parallel North. To distinguish it from the Magnetic North Pole, it is known as the True North Pole.
By definition, the North Pole, which is located opposite the South Pole, is the northernmost point on Earth. It also specifies the direction of true north and geodetic latitude 90° North. All lines of longitude converge at the North Pole, where all directions point south, making its longitude a function of any degree. Any time can be used as the local time because the North Pole has no specific time zone.
East and west are in the direction of the clock on concentric circles of latitude. The Northern Hemisphere’s center is the North Pole. Although some possibly semi-permanent gravel banks lie a little closer, Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland, is typically considered to be the closest land. Alert, on Canada’s Ellesmere Island, is the closest permanently populated area; it is about 817 kilometers (508 miles) from the North Pole.
North Pole is situated in the midst of the Arctic Ocean, in seas that are nearly always covered by continually fluctuating sea ice, in contrast to the South Pole, which is situated on a continental land mass. Russian Mir submersible in 2007 reported the sea depth at the North Pole to be 4,261 m (13,980 ft), and USS Nautilus measured it to be 4,087 m (13,409 ft) in 1958. Because of this, building a permanent station at the North Pole is impracticable (unlike the South Pole).
But since 1937, the Soviet Union and later Russia have built a number of manned drifting stations, several of which have passed over or been quite close to the Pole. A group of Russians have also yearly built Barneo, a private base, near to the Pole, since 2002. During the first several weeks of spring, this is in operation. The North Pole might become ice-free for part of the year due to Arctic ice loss, according to studies from the 2000s, with estimates ranging from 2016 to the late 21st century or later.
Beginning in the late 19th century, expeditions to the North Pole were made, and multiple times the “Farthest North” record was surpassed. The airship Norge, which flew over the region in 1926 with 16 people on board, including mission leader Roald Amundsen, is widely regarded as the first expedition to successfully reach the North Pole.
Previously, the results of three other trips headed by Richard E. Byrd (1926, aerial), Robert Peary (1909, land), and Frederick Cook (1908, land) were officially acknowledged as having reached the North Pole. But in each instance, a later study of the expedition data has called into question the veracity of their assertions. By employing snowmobiles and air support, Ralph Plaisted, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl, and Jean-Luc Bombardier made the first known overland mission to the North Pole in 1968.
