Where Is the Arctic Circle? Its Latitude, a Map and Where to Cross It

In 2026 the Arctic Circle is at 66°33′50.8″ N (66.5641°), and it moves about 14.5 m north every year. In Alaska you stand on it at the Arctic Circle Wayside, milepost 115 of the Dalton Highway, 199 miles from Fairbanks. Fairbanks itself is 192 km (120 mi) south of the line. In Finland it runs through Santa Claus Village, 8 km north of Rovaniemi. In Norway there is a centre on the E6 at Saltfjellet, and the coastal ships pass a globe on the islet of Vikingen. Pick any place above to see how far it is from the line.

How to use it

Pick a place. The five places people ask about most come first, then 27 more in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the far south of South America. For anywhere else, pick “Somewhere else” and type a town or a latitude and longitude. The answer tells you how far north or south of the Arctic Circle the place is. For a place south of the equator, it measures to the Antarctic Circle. It also says whether the Sun sets there in summer, and which marked crossing is nearest. Change the year to see where the line was, or where it will be. Below the map, the five places people stand on the line are listed nearest first. Each one comes with its keeper’s own words on how to get there.

Where the line comes from

The Arctic Circle is not a line someone drew. It sits at 90° minus the tilt of the Earth’s axis. North of it, the centre of the Sun stays up for at least one whole day at the June solstice, and below it for one day in December. The tilt is slowly shrinking, so the line creeps north. This page computes the tilt for 1 January of the year you pick. It uses the IAU 2006 formula, as printed in the IERS Conventions (2010), equation 5.40. Distances run north or south along the meridian on the WGS 84 shape of the Earth, NGA’s numbers. On top of the slow creep, the Earth nods every 18.6 years. That moves the true line up to about 280 m either side. On 21 June 2026 the true line is at 66°33′43.3″ N, 230 m south of the mean one. Grímsey’s stone sphere is moved with the line: in 2019 its keepers moved it “approx. 69 meters”, and the true line moved 68 m south that year. The crossings come from each keeper’s own page: the Bureau of Land Management, Santa Claus Village and Visit Rovaniemi, Polarsirkelsenteret, Hurtigruten, Arctic Coast Way and Visit Akureyri. Every one was checked on Oct 17, 2026.

The Arctic Circle by year

Grímsey has stones on the line of 1717, 1817 and 1917, so you can walk the century the line moved. The Antarctic Circle is the same latitude south: 66°33′50.8″ S in 2026.

Where to stand on the line

By their own pages’ coordinates, the markers sit a little south of the 2026 line. A page may give its car park or its front door rather than the sign, and the line itself moves about 14.5 m a year. Rovaniemi’s airport is the surprise. The 2026 line crosses the runway 1.4 km from its south end, so every plane landing there crosses it.

Worked examples

• Fairbanks, where most Alaska trips start: Fairbanks is 192 km (120 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The Dalton Highway’s wayside is the nearest crossing.
• Rovaniemi: Rovaniemi is 7.3 km (4.5 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. Even so, the Sun does not set there from Jun 7 to Jul 6.
• Kotzebue, on Alaska’s west coast: Kotzebue is 37 km (23 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.
• Bodø, where the coastal ships stop: Bodø is 80 km (50 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.
• Tromsø: Tromsø is 344 km (214 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.
• Ushuaia, where most Antarctic cruises leave from: Ushuaia is 1,310 km (814 mi) north of the Antarctic Circle.

Common mistakes

• Calling it 66.5° north. That rounding puts the line 7.1 km (4.4 mi) too far south. The true figure in 2026 is 66°33′50.8″ N, and it changes every year.
• Thinking the sign stands exactly on the line. The markers stay put while the line moves north. The coordinates on the wayside’s own page are 920 m (3,020 ft) south of the 2026 line. For Santa Claus Village it is 2.3 km (1.4 mi) south.
• Thinking Fairbanks is inside the Arctic Circle. It is 192 km (120 mi) south of it, and the Sun sets there every day of the year. To cross the line by road, drive the Dalton Highway north to milepost 115.
• Thinking you must cross the line for the midnight sun. The air bends the Sun’s light, so the midnight sun reaches a little south of the line. Rovaniemi, south of it, gets the midnight sun from Jun 7 to Jul 6.
• Driving the Dalton Highway in a rental car without checking. The BLM’s guide warns: “Many rental car agreements prohibit driving on the Dalton Highway and other gravel roads.” It also says “Travel between late October and early April is not advised.”
• Going to Saltfjellet in winter. The Arctic Circle Centre in Norway is open from 1 May to the middle of October.

Plan the trip

For the trip itself, read things to do in Fairbanks, what not to miss in Norway, is Finland friendly to tourists and things to do in Svalbard, far north of the line. Going in winter? See the best places to see the northern lights and Iceland in summer vs. winter. For the dates the Sun does not set at your place, use the Midnight Sun tool. The Northern Lights tool covers the dark months, and the Solstice and Equinox tool gives the exact minute of the longest day.