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Barents Region

General

The Barents Euro-Arctic Region forms a natural link between the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia. The surface area covers approximately 1.8 million km2 – larger than the combined areas of Portugal, Spain, Germany, France and Italy together. The Scandinavian mountain range dominates the western part, while plains and hills dominate in the east, leading to a large variation in climate and ecosystems in the region. The Barents Region is mainly located north of the Arctic Circle, giving a period of exotic midnight sun during the summer and dark polar nights in the winter.

History

Archaeological findings tell us that people settled down along the shores of the rich Barents Sea more than ten thousand years ago. Throughout the years there have been extensive relations among the people in the region. In spite of disagreements between rulers about who controlled the northern territory, the inhabitants developed good neighbour relationships. An example is the Pomor trade, which reached its pinnacle in the middle of the 18th century. However, borders drawn in the region limited the possibility of contact, which the era of the Cold War reduced even more.

The Barents Cooperation

The Barents Euro-Arctic Region was officially established in 1993, and consists of thirteen administrative areas; three counties in Norway (Nordland, Troms and Finnmark), two counties in Sweden (Västerbotten and Norrbotten), three regions in Finland (Kainuu, Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland), and five administrative areas in northwest Russia (Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Counties, Karelian and Komi Republics and Nenets Autonomous area). The main idea behind the intergovernmental cooperation was to strengthen the regional collaboration related to commercial development, environmental challenges and people-to-people relationships in the Barents Region.

People

The number of people living in the Barents Region is approximately 6 million, and the population is quite complex. The major groups today are Russians, Finns, Swedes and Norwegians. Several indigenous people and minority groups live in the region: Nenets, Komi, Karelians and Veps live in Russia, whereas the Sami belong to all four countries in the Barents Region. Because of intensive colonization during the 19th and 20th century, there are still substantial groups of Ukrainians, White Russians, Tartars and Mordvinsk living in the region. There are also various groups of refugees and other recent immigrants, especially in Norway and Sweden. In Russia most of the people live in cities and industrial communities. The Nordic counties have a more rural population reflecting an economy based on fisheries, forestry and agriculture.

Economy

The Barents Region is extremely rich in natural resources, and the main economic activities are related to the utilization of forests, fish and minerals. Large reserves of oil and gas are found in the Barents Sea, and there are great expectations related to the exploration and development of these resources in the years to come. For the Sami and Nenets indigenous populations, reindeer husbandry is an important way of life. The natural surroundings in the Barents Region attract many tourists, and tourism is a growing industry in all four countries.

Nature and Environment

Tracts of nature in the Barents Region are among the largest of the world’s pristine areas. The Arctic Tundra characterizes the northern part, whereas enormous conifer forests dominate in southern areas of the Barents Region. The different types of environment encourage tremendous species diversity, including large thriving populations of wolves and bears. However, increasing industrial activities, related to minerals, forestry, oil and gas, pose a threat to biodiversity in some parts of the region. In the years to come, an important task for the Barents cooperation is to preserve the unique wilderness of the Barents Region.

The interactive Barents Geographic DataBase, the printed Barents Maps and the Internet-based infrastructure for data sharing, are the result of a co-operative project “Geographic Information Technology within the Barents Region” – a part of the Barents Programme with financial contributions from EU Interreg III A North Programme and national sources.