Exploring Arctic Diversity by Hitting the Road: Where Finland, Norway, and Russia Meet

• Published in: The American Geographical Society's focus on geography 2017-01, Vol.60, p.N_A-N_A
• Main Authors: Gerlach, Julia, Kinossian, Nadir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 16th century; 18th century; Coasts; Collapse; Cultural heritage; Dialects; Economic activity; Handicrafts; International relations; Iron ores; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Museums; Nation states; Native peoples; Parliaments; Polar environments; Population; Supermarkets; Unemployment
• ISSN: 1549-4934; 1949-8535
• DOI: 10.21690/foge/2017.60.1f

The Sámi population is estimated at between 50,000 and 80,000, most of whom (approximately 40,000) live in Norway, primarily in the northern regions (Jakobsen 2011). Since the sixteenth century, the Sámi have been subject to suppression, assimilation, and marginalization policies associated with missionary activities, colonization, and nation-building processes in the High North (Jakobsen 2011). With the beginning of iron ore extraction at Bjørnevatn during the early twentieth century, Kirkenes became an industrial town and a port. [...]the 1980s, it remained a typical company town, where the mining corporation, Sydvaranger Ltd., assumed many social functions (Viken and others 2008). Russian merchants run a monthly Russian market in Kirkenes' central square; many Russian citizens visit Kirkenes to shop in local supermarkets and hardware stores. Since 2014, the unfolding economic crisis in Russia caused by the collapse of global energy prices and Western sanctions against Russian companies has affected the ability of Russian customers to purchase Western goods. [...]Kirkenes' Borderland Museum has arranged a small exhibition dedicated to the common weekly routine of Kirkenesian shoppers driving to Näätämö.