polar bear: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 14, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	Thalarctos maritimus • sea bear • white bear • Ursus maritimus • ice bear • water bear

Photos and Videos

Three polar bears (Ursus maritimus) standing together on a floating ice sheet surrounded by water and broken ice in Norway.

adult polar bear and cub

Illustration of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus) standing on ice, showing its large, cream-colored body and thick fur, with a size scale indicating 30 centimeters or 12 inches for reference.

World map showing the geographic ranges of the eight bear species, each marked in a different color. The American black bear is found across much of North America, the polar bear in Arctic regions, the brown bear across northern North America, Europe, and Asia, and the spectacled bear in a small area of northwestern South America. In Asia, the Asiatic black bear, sloth bear, sun bear, and giant panda have distinct, mostly non-overlapping ranges in the eastern and southern parts of the continent.

polar bears on an ice floe

An adult polar bear walking across snow with two small cubs following closely behind.

Map of the Arctic region showing polar bear subpopulation areas, each outlined and color-coded to indicate trends over the past 15 years: green for increasing populations, yellow for stable, red for declining, and white for insufficient data. The map covers areas around the Arctic Ocean, including northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Norway, and Russia, and labels each subpopulation region with a number corresponding to a legend.

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus).

Spitsbergen, Norway: polar bear

Observe polar bear predation on walrus on Wrangel Island

Polar bears waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze

Polar bear triplets' first steps into the Arctic

Life of polar bear cubs in the Canadian Arctic

See a desperately hungry polar bear hunting for fish due to scarcity of food in the Russian Arctic

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Topics

Why are polar bears white?charismatic megafauna black bear brown bear Asiatic black bear cave bear

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