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This site is dedicated to the heroic explorers of the Polar Regions and the surrounding islands. As you browse through this site, you will witness an extensive mix of reference material that will be useful to philatelists (those who study stamps and postal history) and students of polar history alike. Both Arctic and Antarctic resources are available. Many of the

Reindeer and caribou are actually the same species, Rangifer tarandus, but there are substantial differences between the two. Caribou are large, wild, elk-like animals which can be found in northern North America and Greenland and have never been domesticated. Reindeer are slightly smaller and were domesticated in northern Eurasia about 2000 years ago. There are still some wild populations of

It's not an arctic version of BINGO! A pingo is a soil covered hill or dome with an ice core. Pingos are about 30 to 50 m (98 to 164 ft) high and up to 400 m (1,312 ft) in diameter and can create striking landscapes in some Arctic regions. They are believed to form as a result of the

The arctic tern makes the longest known seasonal migration. It spends the northern summer in the Arctic and the southern summer in the Antarctic, traveling over 22,000 miles (35,000 km) each year!

Polar Bears are the only bear species to be considered marine mammals. In fact the latin name for Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus, means maritime bear. This is because they depend on the ocean for their food and habitat. They also have many physical characteristics that make them well adapted for life in the cold Arctic Ocean. They are excellent swimmers

The coldest temperature ever recorded in history was -128 degrees F (-89 degrees C) at Vostok Station, Antarctica! The coldest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic was -94 degrees F (-67.8 degrees C) at the village of Verkhoyansk, Siberia.

The word Arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, arktos. It refers to two constellations in the northern night sky: Ursa Major (Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (Little Bear), which contains Polaris, the North Star.

Sea ice is frozen ocean water that grows and melts in the ocean. Icebergs, glaciers, and ice shelves float in the ocean but originate on land.

This video, available from National Geographic, is an overview of the earth and life science properties of the Arctic Ocean.

PolarTREC teacher Michelle Brown writes for the Austin American Statesman about her upcoming expedition to Antarctica. Michelle outlines her plans to travel to Antarctica to work with researchers at the remote McMurdo Station and the automated geophysical observatory at the South Pole Station. In addition to helping researchers study the human impacts on the southern continent, she will also install