Coverage

CircHOB coverage spans the circumpolar world, categorized as much as possible according to the following standardized territorial jurisdictions:

[US] United States	[DK] Denmark	[RU] Russian Federation
[Ak] Alaska	[Gl] Greenland	[Mu] Murmansk Oblast
[CA] Canada	[Fo] Faroe Islands	[Ka] Kareliya Republic
[Yk] Yukon	[IS] Iceland	[Ar] Arkhangelsk Oblast
[Nt] Northwest Territories	[NO] Norway	[Ne] Nenets AO
[Nu] Nunavut	[Nd] Nordland	[Ko] Komi Republic
	[Tr] Troms	[Yn] Yamalo-Nenets AO
	[Fm] Finnmark	[Km] Khanty-Mansi AO
	[SE] Sweden	[Ta] Taymyr AO **
	[Vb] Västerbotten	[Ev] Evenki AO **
	[Nb] Norrbotten	[Sk] Sakha Republic
	[FI] Finland	[Ma] Magadan Oblast
	[Ou] Oulu *	[Ky] Koryak AO **
	[La] Lappi	[Ck] Chukotka AO

Note: AO = autonomous okrug

Notes

Additional breakdown for most data is also available for Alaska Natives and Greenland-born Greenlanders; more limited breakdown is available for Canadian First Nations and Inuit.

The whole of Alaska and Greenland are included. Northern Canada includes only the three northern territories, all located above 60º N latitude. While the Nunavik region in northern Québec province and the Nunatsiavut region in Labrador are often regarded as part of the Canadian Arctic, health data from these regions are generally difficult to extract from the provinces to which they belong.

The northernmost counties in Norway, Sweden, and Finland constitute the northern regions of those countries. [“County” here refers to fylke in Norway, län in Sweden, and lääni in Finland]. These regions, plus those of Murmansk Oblast, Kareliya Republic, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Nenets AO, and Komi Republic in European Russia, are also members of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council.

The situation in Russia is quite complex. The Russian Federation is composed of different types of administrative divisions called federal “subjects” (subyetkty), including republic, kray, oblast, autonomous okrug, and federal city, with varying degrees of autonomy, but all sending representatives to the Federal Council (Sovet Federatsii), the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Autonomous okrugs (hereafter AO), with the exception of Chukotka, are generally part of some higher level units such as oblasts or krays, and usually represent the traditional territories of some indigenous ethnic groups. Demographic and health data are usually available for these AO separately. Both the Nenets AO and Arkhangelsk Oblast, to which the Nenets AO is subordinate, are included on our list. The Yamalo-Nenets, Khanty-Mansi, Taymyr, Evenki, and Koryak AO are included, but not their “parent” Tyumen Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Kamchatka Krai (see below), which extend far into the southern parts of Siberia. All 13 Russian regions selected here are among those designated as “Far North districts and equivalents” under Decision #1029 of the USSR Council of Ministers adopted in 1967. Part or all of their territory lies above the Arctic Circle. For further information on definitional issues of the Russian North, see Kozlov et al (2007).

* All provinces in Finland were abolished and replaced with regional administrative agencies on January 1, 2010. While Lapland territory was preserved, Oulu province was divided into Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions. This change will not affect the 2000-2004 or 2005-2009 datasets.

** Note that as of January 1, 2007, the Taymyr, Evenki (merged with Krasnoyarsk Krai) and Koryak AO (merged with Kamchatka Oblast to form Kamchatka Krai) ceased to exist as distinct federal subjects. This change may affect part of the 2005-2009 dataset.