南猿屬

北冰洋(Arctic Ocean)

大致以北極為中心的海洋。世界上最小的海洋，幾乎全部由北美和歐亞大陸的陸地所環繞，特徵為有冰雪覆蓋。本區土地和鄰近的土地包括阿拉斯加的巴羅角、北極群島、格陵蘭的2/3面積、斯瓦爾巴、法蘭士約瑟夫地群島和西伯利亞北部。北冰洋麵積14,056,000平方公里，水深最深處達5,500公尺。許多地區各有其特定名稱，包括巴倫支海、波弗特海、楚克奇海、格陵蘭海和喀拉海。9～12世紀北歐人首度來到北極圈探險。16～17世紀探險家們為了尋求西北航道而來到此區。1576～1578年佛洛比西爾發現巴芬島南部，1610～1611年哈得遜航行到哈得遜灣的東部海岸。後來的探險家包括阿蒙森、南森、皮列和伯德。1960年代在阿拉斯加發現石油後，帶動了此區自然資源的發展。現在所有的北極區已繪製成圖。

English version：

Arctic Ocean

Ocean centering approximately on the North Pole. Smallest of the world's oceans,it is almost completely surrounded by the landmasses of Eurasia and North America,and is distinguished by a cover of ice. Lands in it and adjacent to it include Pt. Barrow in Alaska,the Arctic Archipelago,two-thirds of Greenland,Svalbard,Franz Josef Land,and northern Siberia. The ocean covers about 5,427,000 sq mi (14,000 sq km) and reaches a maximum depth of about 18,000 ft (5,500 m). Various sections are known by specific names,including the Barents,Beaufort,Chukchi,Greenland,and Kara seas. Areas within the Arctic Circle were first explored in the 9th-12th century by the Norse. In the 16th-17th century explorers searching for the Northwest Passage reached the area; Martin Frobisher discovered the southern part of Baffin Island (1576-78),and Henry Hudson navigated the eastern coast of Hudson Bay (1610-11). Later explorers included Roald Amundsen,Fridtjof Nansen,Robert E. Peary,and Richard E. Byrd. Development of the area's natural resources was spurred by the discovery of oil in Alaska in the 1960s; virtually all the Arctic has now been mapped.