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ABCTIC REGIONS 239 AUDENNES ABCTIC REGIONS, the regions round the North Pole, and extending from the Pole on all sides to the Arctic Circle in lat. 66° 32' N. The Arctic, or North Polar Circle, just touches the northern headlands of Iceland, cuts off the south- ern and narrowest portion of Greenland, crosses Fox Strait N. of Hudson's Bay, whence it goes over the American conti- nent to Bering Strait. Thence it runs to Obdorsk at the mouth of the Obi, then crossing northern Russia, the White Sea, and the Scandinavian Peninsula, returns to Iceland. Valuable minerals, fossils, etc., have been discovered within the Arctic regions. In the archipelago N. of the American continent, excellent coal frequently occurs. The mineral cryolite is mined in Greenland. Fossil ivory is obtained in islands at the mouth of the Lena. In Scandinavia, parts of Si- beria, and northwest America, the forest region extends within the Arctic circle. The most characteristic of the natives of the Arctic regions are the Eskimos. The most notable animals are the white bear, the musk ox, the reindeer, and the whale- bone whale. Fur-bearing animals are numerous. ARCTURUS, in astronomy, a fixed star of the first magnitude, called also Alpha Bootes. It is one of the very brightest stars in the northern heavens. Though nominally fixed, yet it has a proper an- gular motion of 2.250', equivalent to 53.32 miles in a second. In 752 years it altered its latitude 5', and in 20 centuries, ac- cording to Humboldt, it has moved 2% times the diameter of the moon's disk. In 1803, Herschel found its diameter, seen through a fog, 2-10 of a second, from which he calculated its diameter to be not less than 8,000,000 leagues. ARDAHAN (ar-dan'), a village of about 300 houses, in the portion of Turk- ish Armenia, ceded in 1878 to Russia, 35 miles N. W. of Kars. Its position gives it strategic importance. Its fortress was dismantled by the Russians in the war of 1854-1856; in 1878 the Berlin Congress sanctioned the cession to Russia of Arda- han, which had been captured early in the war. ARDEBIL. a town of Persia, in the province of Azerbijan, 110 miles E. of Tabriz, and some 5,000 feet above the sea. Pop. about 10,000. ARDECHE (ar-dash'), a department in the south of France, takes its name from a tributary of the Rhone, and in- cludes part of ancient Languedoc. It is almost wholly mountainous. In the N. W. of the department, the Cevennes cul- minate in the volcanic Mon^OT zene. 5,752 feet in height. Numerous extinct volcanic peaks, deep craters, grottos, rock labyrinths, and basaltic columns give an extraordinarily picturesque appearance to the scenery. The upland, where winter reigns for six or eight months, is devoted to pasturage ; but the valley of the Rhone produces wine, olives, chestnuts, figs, and almonds. Only a fourth of the area is cultivated. Iron, coal, antimony, lead, marble, and gjijsum are wrought. There are manufactures of silk, paper, leather, cloth, and straw. Area, 2,136 square miles; pop. about 350,000. The capital is Frivas. ARDENNES (ar-dan'), an extensive hill-country and forest, ocupying the S. E. corner of Belgium, between the Mo- selle and the Meuse, but extending also into France and Rhenish Prussia. It con- sists of a broken mass of hills, for the most part of no great elevation, which gradually slope toward the plains of Flanders. The channel of the Meuse is in some places bound in by rugged and precipitous cliffs more than 600 feet high. The wealth of the region is its wood and its minerals. Enormous supplies of coal are found in the north, a very important element in Belgium's industrial wealth; iron, lead, antimony, copper, and man- ganese are also found. Multitudes of cattle and sheep are reared. In the World War (1914-1918) the Ardennes saw much severe fighting. See World War. ARDENNES, a frontier department of France, bordering on Belgium. It is named from the forest of Ardennes, and formed a part of the old province of Champagne; area, 2,020 square miles. The N. E. belongs to the basin of the Meuse; the S. W. is watered by the Aisne; these rivers being united by a canal. About two-fifths of the whole sur- face is hilly, and covered with forests and wide tracts of pasturage. In the X., marble is obtained. South of this, and stretching across the department from E. to W., are great layers of slate. Only the valleys are fertile, and produce corn. The vine'is cultivated in the S. W. Cattle and sheep are reared. Slate, marble, iron, clay, copper, and coal are found. Iron working is largely carried on; but the chief industry is cloth-making, especially in Sedan. There are also manufactures of clay pipes, glass, paper, sugar, and beer. The capital is Mezieres, but the most important place is the great forti- fied city of Sedan. Pop. of de- partment about 320,000. In the World War the department was the scene of some of the greatest battles be- tween the Grerman and the Allied forces.