Arctic Circle level, although in mountainous regions there is often no direct view of the true horizon. Only four million people live north of the Arctic Circle due to the severe climate; nonetheless, some areas have been settled for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, who today make up 10% of the region's population. Tens of thousands of years ago, waves of people migrated from eastern Siberia across the Bering Strait into North America to settle. The largest communities north of the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia, Norway and Sweden: Murmansk (population 307,257), Norilsk (175,365), Tromsø (71,295), Vorkuta (59,231) and Kiruna
Poverty in the Arctic Poverty in the Arctic The Arctic is a vast polar region comprising the northern most parts of Canada, Norway, Greenland (Denmark), Sweden, Finland, the United States (Alaska), Iceland and Russia. In recent years, the Arctic has been at the forefront of political and social issues. Several matters have risen surrounding the issues of poverty and global warming and their effects on indigenous people in this region. Indigenous people in the Arctic statistically fall below their nation's poverty line. Indigenous populations that were once largely self-sufficient and relatively food secure in the Arctic's harsh environment are today struggling to sustain themselves