Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 97

Arctic Yearbook 2014 97 went from just 8.5 percent of the population in 1901 to 38.2 percent in 1990 and the larger capital region going from 10.5 to 57.1 percent over the same period (Statistics Iceland, 2014). Reykjavik’s share peaked in the early 2000s at 39.4 percent and has declined slightly to 37.2 percent in 2013 in part because of continued growth in the larger capital region, which now contains roughly 60 percent of the country’s population. Figure 9: Population size, net migration and natural increase in Iceland, 1703-2012 Net migration/ natural increase 6,000 4,000 Total population 350,000 Population Net immigration Natural increase 300,000 250,000 2,000 200,000 0 150,000 -2,000 100,000 -4,000 1703 1738 1742 1746 1750 1754 1758 1762 1766 1770 1774 1778 1782 1786 1790 1794 1798 1802 1806 1810 1814 1818 1822 1826 1830 1834 1838 1842 1846 1850 1854 1858 1862 1866 1870 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 -6,000 50,000 0 Source: Statistics Iceland. Russian Arctic The manner in which the centrally-planned economy of the Soviet Union went about developing the resources of its Northern and Arctic periphery regions was quite different from that of other Arctic countries (Hill, 2003). This resulted in a much larger overall population and much larger cities than in comparable Arctic regions elsewhere. According to Marxist theory, nature existed to serve the needs of humans. The Soviet Union had a number of examples throughout its history where this concept was put into practice. Probably the greatest example was its attempt to overcome the harsh climate and remoteness of the Arctic in developing the rich natural resources of the region which were so crucial to the Soviet economy and which remain vital to the growth of the Russian economy. For planning, economic development, statistical and other purposes, the Russian government defines both a set of northern and Arctic region.2 This section will examine migration trends in the broader fifteen regions classified as the Far North or simply the North. The development and securing of a necessary labor force in the North proceeded in several overlapping stages (Heleniak, 2009). The first was through the use of forced labor which was a part of the GULAG system where millions were sent to Siberia and the Arctic to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union starting at the time of the first Five-Year Plan in 1928. Later a system of wage   Migration in the Arctic