A common definition of the Arctic is the area roughly consisting of the Arctic Circle and designated areas south of it, including all of Greenland. Some 4 million people live in this area. Another definition is all areas with partial permafrost, which includes only parts of the Nordic countries, all of Siberia and south of it to Mongolia, and much of Canada. Lars Kullerud defines the Arctic in a somewhat broader way: – I consider the entire Nordic region to be part of the Arctic, if we extend our perspective a little and do not insist on finding polar bears. So someone living in Southern Jutland in Denmark could be said to reside in the southernmost Arctic. The region is called NORDic for good reason – it’s the northernmost part of the world.» • The beach in Arkhangelsk in Northwest Russia, where the temperature reached a record high of 34° C on this June 2013 day Photo: NorskForsk/Linn Hoff Jensen
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