The archipelago is a hazardous traffic median in the great circle route, the shortest path between ports on either side of the North Pacific.

ECONOMIST: Shipwrecks in the Aleutians

Or, see the great island by boat on a Circle Line day cruise, a World Yacht dinner cruise, or even the free Staten Island Ferry, where you sail right past Lady Liberty.

BBC: Romantic winters of New York

In the early 1990s geologists working for companies not allied with De Beers discovered a great trove of diamonds just below the Arctic Circle in northwestern Canada.

FORBES: Fracture Lines

La Trobe Street is where you can catch the free City Circle Tram, a Melbourne icon and a great way to get a sense of the city.

BBC: A walking tour of Melbourne

Migration data for the most recent one-year period available, July 2010 t0 July 2011, show the Great Recession has shaken the rankings up quite a bit within the circle of fast-growth regions.

FORBES: Where Americans Are Moving

"It was a bit of a shame that I came second again, but it's still been a great run in Europe this year and it was great to get back into the winner's circle (for the first time in over two years) in Norway, " said Davies.

BBC: SPORT | Golf | Gustafson holds off Davies to win