GEOGRAPHY
Location: Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean
and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
Geographic
coordinates: 72 00 N, 40 00 W
Map
references: Arctic Region
Area:
total: 2,175,600 sq km
land: 2,175,600 sq km (341,600 sq km ice-free, 1,834,000 sq km
ice-covered) (est.)
Area—comparative: slightly
more than three times the size of Texas
Land
boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 44,087 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters
Terrain: flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow,
mountainous, barren, rocky coast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m
Natural
resources: zinc, lead, iron ore, coal, molybdenum, gold,
platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales
Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 99% (1993 est.)
Irrigated
land: NA sq km
