Arctic Alaska, the area of the state north of the Arctic Circle, has three distinct regions: the arctic coastal plain, the Brooks Range, and the boreal forest with its numerous lakes, rivers, and streams.

The arctic coastal plain, or the "North Slope," includes 14 percent of Alaska's land. Blanketed by tundra and dotted with lakes and ponds, it receives less than 16 centimeters of moisture annually (less than the Mojave Desert). Despite meager precipitation, most of the coastal plain is classified as wetlands. The underlying permafrost (permanently frozen ground) inhibits drainage, and the small amount of melt water or rain that soaks into the tundra remains near the surface. Most inhabitants of the North Slope live in one of eight communities, seven of which are along the coast. The largest communities are Barrow and Kotzebue. Barrow, at about 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole, is the northernmost inhabited village in North America. South of the North Slope lie the rugged peaks of the Brooks Range, which runs across northern Alaska for 1,150 kilometers, the slopes are generally bare except for a thin layer of hardy tundra vegetation, such as lichen. From the highest peaks, rivers flow south to the Yukon River, north to the Beaufort Sea, or west to the Chukchi Sea.

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