The Circumpolar North

When we talk about the Circumpolar World, we mean the Circumpolar North, the area traditionally covered by the terms “Arctic” and “Subarctic,” the northern lands of the world’s eight northernmost countries (the Arctic Eight): Canada, Finland, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska).

The UArctic network promotes a multidisciplinary approach to learning about the Circumpolar North, that includes understanding its lands, seas and environments; peoples and cultures; and the contemporary issues facing the region.

UArctic's Circumpolar Studies program is a comprehensive undergraduate curriculum that was designed by the network as an offering to benefit students at all its member institutions.

These issues are studied together - and across the entire region, because the Circumpolar North shares many similarities of environment and socio-economic history.

UArctic's member institutions offer a wide variety of northern-relevant programs and courses that you can discover through the Study Catalogue.

Themes of study include:

Indigenous peoples, their cultures, languages and political aspirations
Climate change and its impacts
Natural resources and extractive industry economies
International relations and geo-politics
Ecology, northern ecoystems and biology

The Circumpolar North

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