Arctic Geography and Politics
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Often the Arctic region is discussed in terms of the area of the Arctic Circle, the northern portion of the north (latitude 66 degrees, 32 minutes North) where the sun does not set during the summer solstice, and it does not rise during the winter solstice.
From that starting point, Arctic geography consists of portions of the Arctic Ocean and the northern most areas of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Norway and Greenland.
Extending the definition of the Arctic region to the areas immediately surrounding the Arctic Ocean also adds additional land mass, including additional states. The Arctic Map provides a straightforward view of the area, including different boundary lines.
According to the CIA World Fact Book (2008), the entire Arctic region (as outlined in red on the aforementioned map) has a total land area of 14.056 million sq km, which includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies.
In comparison, the Arctic region is approximatley 1.5 times larger than the United States. However, as the map shows, the Arctic Ocean constitutes the vast majority of the area.
Some of the definitional differences about the Arctic region deal with political issues. States wish to be included in any understanding of Arctic territory or geography for security, economic and environmental reasons.
Disagreements among Arctic states exist, especially with respect to potential Arctic economic and development issues associated with the metling of Arctic sea ice. For example, development of potential Arctic oil fields and control of shipping lanes opened by melting sea ice, could easily reach the level of contentiousness in the Arctic as they have played in the rest of the world in the post Cold War years. Canada and Russia for example, have recently engaged in an Antarctic sovereignty dispute.
The Arctic Council is the political forum created to promote cooperative activty among the Arctic boundary states. The web site The Arctic provides a good deal of detailed information regarding interplay between Arctic ecology and politics. However, the information is a bit dated and does not address recent conflicts among Arctic stakeholders.
© 2009. Patricia A. Michaels.