- Meaning: The area around the North Pole, roughly north of the Arctic Circle (66°33′ N).

- Consists of: Parts of countries such as Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, Finland, Russia, the US (Alaska), Canada, Greenland (Denmark), and the Arctic Ocean.

- Characteristic: Polar climate, permafrost, ice seas, tundra, and few to no trees.

- Fauna: Polar bears, walruses, reindeer, arctic foxes, etc.

- Meaning: Collective name for both polar regions: the Arctic region in the north AND the Antarctic region in the south.

- So: The Arctic is part of the Polar Regions.

- Arctic = Arctic region, Antarctic = Antarctic region.

- Significance: political-cultural region in northern Europe.

- Consists of: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland (sometimes including autonomous areas such as Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland).

- Not necessarily Arctic: Only the far north of Norway, Sweden and Finland is in the Arctic region.

- Characteristic: Well-developed, democratic countries with shared historical ties, but not necessarily cold or frozen everywhere.