There are two different places referred when one
commonly speaks of the
North Pole, and many people do not realize that they are
different. There is the concept of the
Geographic North Pole, and
Magnetic North Pole.
Geographically speaking, the
North Pole is located (quite obviously) at the
top of the
earth. The region does not have
life in the area as does the
South Pole, nor does it have underlying
land mass. The area is frozen over
completely; an entire land or nothing but
ice. In many children’s
stories, the North Pole is also the home of
Santa Claus. When used in casual
conversation, the North Pole typically refers to this region.
The Magnetic
North Pole lives in the island region above
Canada, and depending on where you live in the world is
several degrees off from true
North. It moves from year to year. To take a
compass bearing, you need to correct several degrees to get the right
heading. This is not a barrier in modern
navigation as most people now use
GPS and
satellite-based systems to get a more precise reading.