A Century of Humans in the Arctic: Population of the Northern Regions During the International Polar Years

Though humans have been living in the Arctic for millennium, the last century has seen a large-scale inflow of non-indigenous groups to the region for economic and political reasons. This paper will compile data on the populations of people living in the Arctic/northern regions over the century or so since industrial societies and economies have become a major presence in the region, using the International Polar Years as milestones. The first IPY in 1882-1883 provides a convenient starting point for both interest in the Arctic and the exploration and exploitation of Arctic resources by outsiders which brought large numbers of people to the region. The most recent 2007-2008 IPY brings this history of in-migration and settlement of the Arctic to the present. Data will be compiled on total population in the Arctic over time for all eight northern countries and regions. Using the population size and structure of the northern regions as the dependent variables, examination would be undertaken of key explanatory variables that caused changes in total population of these regions such as industrialization, the role of the state, forced migration, changing transport linkages, and environmental change. Data will be compiled on the total population in each northern country and region and selected demographic variables such as the share that the Arctic/northern population as a percent of entire countries, the relative shares of indigenous and non-indigenous, or newcomers and natives, percent urban and rural, the structure of settlements in the north, and other demographic variables such as age, sex, education, and occupation. These base data will be used to model and project the future size and composition of population of the Arctic under different scenarios.