The North Pole is the defined spot in the Northern Hemisphere where the planet’s axis of rotation meets its surface. It is diametrically opposite the South Pole. It is located in the Arctic Ocean amid shifting sea ice (while the South Pole is on a land mass). Nevertheless, Russia has devised various manned drifting stations near the Pole. British explorer William Edward Perry led a famous expedition to the North Pole in 1827. Many other polar expeditions occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many ending in disaster. American explorer Richard Peary claimed to reach the Pole in 1909, though that claim has been disputed. The first scientifically verified landing at the Pole occurred in 1926 by Norwegian Roald Amundsen. In many Western cultures, the North Pole is also the home of Santa Claus and his workshop.