Located almost precisely on the Arctic Circle at 66.5 degrees north latitude, Repulse Bay is on the geographic line at which the sun remains above the horizon at midnight in midsummer and never rises in midwinter.

The number of days the sun stays above (or below) the horizon increases the further north one goes. At the North Pole, however, the sun doesn't set for the first six months of the year and doesn't rise during the other six.

Trivial information? Perhaps. But why does this all happen?

Contrary to what many people think, the reason why there is more light in the summer is not that the earth is closer to the sun. The sun is actually closer in the winter because Earth's orbit around the sun isn't a perfect circle, but a slightly flattened oval.

During the winter, Earth is closer to the sun, but the planet, tilted on its axis, leaves a shadow centred on the North Pole.

Danny Harvey, a climatologist in the geography department at the University of Toronto, describes the Arctic Circle in terms of the tilt of the earth's axis.

"The tilt of the Earth's axis determines how high the sun rises above the horizon, and therefore determines the amount of daylight," he said.

The tilt is about 23 degrees, which means the Arctic Circle is about 23 degrees south of the geographical North Pole.

While this data means little to the average person, it does help explain the scientific reasons behind the difference in the amount of light during the winter.

In the words of Elizabeth Aglukka of Repulse Bay, "It allows us to stay outdoors longer to go camping and fishing," she said.

Aglukka might be interested to know that her home won't always sit on the Circle. According to Harvey, the Arctic Circle moves three degrees, or about 300 kilometres, every 20,000 years and then returns to its original place on the planet 20,000 years later, as the Earth wobbles on its axis.

Eventually, then Repulse Bay will lose its billing as the community closest to the Arctic Circle.

Oh well.