The Barents Region is a name given, by advocates of establishing international cooperation after the fall of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to the land along the coast of the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

, from

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

to the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and beyond all the way to the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

and

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

, and south to the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...

of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and the great lakes Ladoga and Onega. Among the projects is the Barents Road from Bodø in Norway through

Haparanda Haparanda (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparanta'', ) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of 9,166 inhabitants (2024). Haparanda is ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

in Russia. The region has six million inhabitants on 1.75 million km²; three quarters of both belong to Russia. The regional cooperation was formally opened on 11 January 1993, initiated by Norway under foreign minister Thorvald Stoltenberg. It includes

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

, and

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

counties in Norway;

Västerbotten County Västerbotten County (), sometimes called Westrobothnia, is a county or '' län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the ...

and

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

in Sweden; Lapland region,

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia (; ) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. The easternmost corner of the region between ...

Kainuu Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic o ...

, and

North Karelia North Karelia (or ''Northern Karelia'', ; ) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finland and share ...

in Finland; and

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

Komi Republic The Komi Republic (; ), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the northeast of European Russia. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Syktyvka ...

Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...

, and

Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ) also known as Nenetsia ( ) is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Naryan-Mar. It has an area of and a population of 42,090 ...

in Russia. The four countries take turns at chairing the cooperation. Norway's participation is coordinated from the Norwegian Barents Secretariat in

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

. Sweden's and Finland's participation is administrated from the county administrations in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

(Västerbotten) and

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

(Lapland). In January 2008 there was established an International Barents Secretariat which is to provide technical support for the multilateral coordinated activities within the framework of the

Barents Euro-Arctic Council The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is the official body for inter-governmental co-operation in the Barents Region. It seeks solutions wherever and whenever the countries can achieve more together than by working on their own. Cooperation in th ...

and the

Barents Regional Council Barents may refer to: *René Barents (born 1951), Dutch judge and legal scholar *Willem Barents (c. 1550–1597), Dutch navigator and explorer *Barents AirLink, a Swedish airline *Barents Island (), an island in the Svalbard archipelago, part of ...

. This Secretariat is located in Kirkenes in the same building as the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.

Barents Regional Cooperation

The Barents cooperation area is , and the population numbers 5.3 million inhabitants.Info on the Barents Region
Barents Euro-Arctic Council. Referenced on the 01.08.2016 The Barents Regional Council (BRC) is a forum for the Barents regional cooperation, with the aim to promote the use of the local regional knowledge through which the BRC participants can find a common ground on which they can base their cooperation, cross-border projects and programmes on. The Regional Committee (RC) is responsible for preparing the meetings of the Regional Council and for implementing the decisions taken by the Regional Council.The Barents Programme 2014–2018
. Barents Info. Referenced on the 01.08.2016 The Barents Regional Council (BRC) consists of 13 member counties / regions / indigenous peoples in

and

. *Finland: Oulu Region, Lapland, Kainuu and North Karelia *Norway:

. *Russia:

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

, Karelia, Komi,

and Nenets. *Sweden:

and

The indigenous peoples of the Sami, Nenets and Veps also have their own representatives at the regional cooperation. The Chairmanship of the Regional Committee is held by the same county as that of the Regional Council, and consequently alternates every second year. The chairmanship 2017 – 2019 is in Finnmark, Norway.Chair Region of the Barents Regional Council
The Barents Euro-Arctic Council. Referenced on the 09.05.2019 The previous four chairmanships were as follows: *

region in Finland 2015–2017 Regional Council Info Page in English
. The Regional Council of Kainuu. Referenced on the 01.08.2016 *

region of Russia 2013–2015 *

in 2011–2013 *

, Norway in 2009–2011

Barents Region – Seven principles

BRC has formulated a vision of the seven principles and goals in the regional cooperation. *First principle is that the well-being of the regions inhabitants should be the basis for all the actions that are carried through the Barents regional cooperation. *Second principle calls out for the improvement of the cooperation between the people involved. This should not be depended on the hierarchy or the level of the person in neither his / her own organisation nor in the BRC cooperation. *Third principle notes that the capable and able actor's on the regional and national spheres should cooperate towards common goals. This enables the betterment of the procedures at the border crossing in both on the individual and imported / exported goods level. *Fourth principle demands the preservation of the local culture, unique customs and lifestyles of each areas respective indigenous people. Helping to create connections and commitments amongst the indigenous people is of great importance. *Fifth principle acknowledges the political capital that the Barents Regional Council has and for this reason it is desirable that council uses this resource to better advocate the Barents region. *Sixth, the second last principle notes that the regional authorities who take part in the activities of BRC should better take in to count regional development in their individual regions in the areas of economic, social and environmental development. The BRC also calls out for these actors to emphasize the sustainability in these development actions. *Seventh and the last principle recommends that the BRC cooperation should be an example of how the cooperation can be both successful and peaceful and how these practices can work as a framework for others to take inspiration from.

The Barents Programme of 2014 - 2018

The basis of the prioritized areas Barents Programme of 2014 – 2018 can be found from the guiding principles of the BRC. The themes for the 2014 – 2018 are economy, environment, education and research, mobility and culture. Economic growth and the essentiality of it are the key factors for the regional development in the region of Barents. The programme acknowledges the meaning of the small and medium-sized companies. The cooperation between the larger companies and the research institutions play a key factor in the regional economics. This development happens especially towards the international market if the companies have innovative services and products to offer. Education and research play a key part in the economic growth but they are an important factor if the Barents region is to build up a sufficient base for innovation and information work. The 2014 – 2018 programme sees that the cooperation between the institutions of higher education and research and the public and private sector is of great importance. The large size of the Barents region and the remoteness of the population centers have their own challenges. A good transportation network, innovative and vigorous economy are called out to meet tackle these problems. Currently challenges are the inter-communal transportation and mobility and the lack of extensive transportation network between the cross-border actors. This is apparent with the infrastructure and transportation related problems in the east-west border. In short, aims for the 2014 - 2018 development programme are as follows: *Promote the growth of creative and fast growing businesses in the region and increase the cooperation between cross border regions in the areas of economy and quality of life. Joint management and the natural resources and preservations are key to the sustainable development. The sustainability also calls in to take account the climate change and how the Barents regions will adapt to it. *The lack of good cross border transportation network demands more from the cooperative parties. This raises the mobility across the borders in every sector from studying, to private and leisure travel and tourism. The convergence of the cooperative network also demands that each participant understands one others culture and the background they come from. Structure of the Barents Regional Council and other significant regional actors in the Arctic region Barents Regional council works in an area where there are many other interest driving actors. These are the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation, The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Northern Dimension, Arctic Council and

Nordic Council of Ministers The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum established after the Helsinki Treaty. The purpose of the Nordic Council of Ministers is to complement the Nordic Council and promote Nordic cooperation. Structure The governm ...

. Barents Regional Council and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) share few common organs between each other. These include the International Barents Secretariat (IBS) and a Working Group of the Indigenous Peoples (WGIP) and lastly the Joint committee on Rescue Cooperation. Both the BEAC and BRC have they own organs under their cooperative organisations. BRC has Barents Regional Committee (RC) and three main working groups (WG) that are WG of environment, transportation & logistics and lastly WG of Investment and Economic Cooperation. BEAC has their own Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) and under this there are several working groups and other organs. These are the WG of Economic Cooperation, Environment, Customs Cooperation, Barents Forest Sector Task-Force and the streeting committee for the Barents Euro-Arctic Pan-European Transport Area. Between the BRC and BEAC there are several joint working groups (JWG) in their own expertise fields. These are JWG on Health and related Social Issues, JWG on Education and Research, JWG on Energy, JWG on Culture, JWG on Tourism and lastly JWG on Youth.

References

External links

barents-council.org/
The

's official web-site.
Barents.no
The Norwegian Barents Secretariat's official web-site.
Barents Road
official website Regions of Europe Regions of Russia Geography of Finland Regions of Sweden Regions of Norway Geography of Europe Geography of Scandinavia Barents Sea Novaya Zemlya

Barents Regional Cooperation

Barents Region – Seven principles

The Barents Programme of 2014 - 2018

See also

References

Further reading

External links