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