The roughly circular Arctic Ocean, in the north polar region, is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently defined Southern Ocean), covering an area of about 14,090,000 km2 (5,440,000 mi2).
It is bordered by Russia, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and the United States (Alaska) and in the center of the Arctic Ocean is an immense area of floating pack ice several hundred miles in diameter. The pack ice moves slowly in a clockwise direction and makes a complete revolution around the top of the world every ten years.
The ocean bottom is marked by ridges, plains of the abyssal zone, and basins.
Below the Arctic Ocean lie huge deposits of mineral resources including copper, coal, diamonds, gold, iron, lead, zinc, nickel, and tin. Large petroleum and natural gas deposits exist in the northern areas of Alaska, Canada, and Russia. Petroleum from Alaska and Canada is transported south by pipelines.
In addition to mineral resources three groups of natural resources are produced in this region: furs, whale products and fish.
Ice covers most of the ocean surface year-round, causing subfreezing temperatures much of the time. The ocean's major ports are the Russian cities Murmansk and Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and the Arctic Ocean is strategically important as the shortest route between North America and Russia.
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