Canada is home to roughly two-thirds of the world’s polar bears. With an estimated 17,000 or more bears spread across its Arctic and sub-Arctic territories, no other country comes close. The global population sits at approximately 26,000, meaning Canada alone accounts for about as many polar bears as all other nations combined.
How Polar Bears Are Distributed Globally
Polar bears live across five nations: Canada, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Norway, and Greenland (a territory of Denmark). They aren’t one giant roaming group. Scientists recognize 19 relatively distinct subpopulations scattered across the Arctic, each tied to specific stretches of sea ice and coastline. Of those 19 subpopulations, 13 fall entirely or partly within Canadian borders.
Canada’s dominance in polar bear numbers comes down to geography. The country has an enormous stretch of Arctic coastline, a vast continental shelf, and seasonal sea ice that historically persists long enough each year for bears to hunt seals effectively. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay, and the waters around Baffin Island all support thriving subpopulations. Some of the densest concentrations anywhere on Earth are found in narrow Canadian waterways like the Gulf of Boothia, where bear density reaches roughly 9 per 1,000 square kilometers, about twice as high as the next densest subpopulation.
Where the Other Countries Stand
Russia holds the second-largest share of polar bears, though exact numbers are harder to pin down because survey access in the Russian Arctic has historically been limited. Russia shares or manages several subpopulations, including the Barents Sea (shared with Norway), the Chukchi Sea (shared with Alaska), the Kara Sea, and the Laptev Sea. A 2016 aerial survey of the Chukchi Sea found that polar bear density in Russian waters was close to ten times higher than in adjacent U.S. waters during spring, with overall Chukchi abundance estimated between roughly 3,400 and 5,400 bears.
The United States has two subpopulations in Alaska: the Southern Beaufort Sea population, estimated at around 900 bears, and the Chukchi Sea population shared with Russia. Alaska’s total is relatively small compared to Canada’s, placing the U.S. well behind both Canada and Russia.
Norway’s polar bears live primarily around the Svalbard archipelago and the surrounding Barents Sea. That subpopulation, shared with Russia, was estimated at between 1,900 and 3,600 bears in 2004 and may have grown since. Because the population straddles two countries, Norway’s share alone is a fraction of the total.
Greenland is associated with several subpopulations along its eastern and western coasts, including parts of the Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, Kane Basin, and East Greenland groups. These are generally shared with Canada, and Greenland’s total bear numbers are modest compared to its neighbor across Baffin Bay.
Why Canada Has So Many
Polar bears are a sea ice species. They depend on frozen ocean surfaces to hunt ringed seals, their primary prey. The length of the ice season, the extent of shallow continental shelf waters (where seals are abundant), and the diversity of available prey all influence how many bears a region can support.
Canada checks every box. Its Arctic coastline is one of the longest in the world, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago is a maze of channels and bays with extensive shallow-water habitat. Research modeling the relationship between bear density and ecological factors found that prey diversity was the strongest predictor of how many bears a given area supports. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where shelf area is consistently high and multiple seal species overlap, scores well on that measure.
The ice-free season matters too. Subpopulations in areas where ice disappears for shorter periods each year tend to be in better condition, because bears have more time to hunt before they’re forced ashore to fast. Many of Canada’s northern subpopulations still benefit from relatively long ice seasons compared to more southerly or rapidly warming regions.
Shifting Numbers Ahead
The global estimate of 26,000 bears is not expected to hold steady. As Arctic sea ice continues to shrink, bears lose hunting time and face longer fasting periods on land. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has noted that continued ice loss is anticipated to cause population declines. The ice-free season is already lengthening by more than two weeks per decade in some subpopulations, a rate associated with significant food stress.
Canada’s southern subpopulations, particularly those around Hudson Bay, are among the most vulnerable because they already experience some of the longest ice-free periods. Bears in these areas come ashore earlier in summer and return to the ice later in fall, compressing the window they have to build fat reserves. Northern subpopulations in the high Arctic currently face less pressure, but projections suggest that advantage will narrow over time as warming reaches higher latitudes.
For now, Canada’s position as the polar bear capital of the world is secure by a wide margin. Two out of every three polar bears alive today live within its borders.