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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 as a result of poverty and also the impacts of climate change. Currently, they are facing an overwhelming amount of issues in relation to poverty including cultural loss, high rates of chronic illness and chronic disease, mental health disorders, lack of basic health needs and housing shortages. In Canada’s arctic region, for example, infant mortality rate is 3.5 times higher than the national rate while life expectancy is 12 years lower. In Greenland, life expectancy is 70 years for women and 65 years for men whereas in Denmark life expectancy for women is 80.59 and 75.8 for men. Specifically, in the territory of Nunavut, unemployment rates range from 15 to 72%. In 2010, 9.9% of Alaskan households fell below their respective poverty thresholds. == Indigenous people == Indigenous populations have occupied Arctic regions for thousands of years and have built their distinct customs and cultural norms around the Arctic’s harsh environmental factors. Indigenous people are the most dominant group of people living in the Arctic. The Arctic territory is home to multiple major indigenous groups; Inuit, Kalaallit Inuit, Alaska natives: Aleut, Alutiiq, Alaskan Athabaskans, Inupiat and Yupik Peoples, Russian-Siberian natives: Nenets, Evenk, Khanty, Even and the Sami. The Inuit are the most populous of these groups and number roughly 50,000 to 60,000 in size.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrsss17.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=85&lang=en )〕 For long Inuit populations remained isolated from the outside world and thrived as independent communities. The arrival of Europeans explorers in the early 16th Century however brought turmoil and disorder to the Inuit way of life.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrsss17.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=85&lang=en )〕 The introduction of new diseases from whalers and explorers in addition to social unjust caused widespread death and disruption across Inuit populations in the Arctic. Following European contact, colonialism became problematic in the Inuit society, as it grew as a result of fur trading operations in the region. Issues surrounding resources and land ownership arose across Indigenous populations, as Europeans and the Inuit competed for valuable resources. Colonialism and imperialism destroyed the social structure of many Indigenous groups in the Arctic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.rrsss17.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=85&lang=en )〕 In consequence, many of these groups still continue to live in some of the most marginalized communities in the developed world today. Social, economic and demographic characteristics of Indigenous populations in the Arctic are homogenous to those in developing nations. Poverty in the region has created challenges in Indigenous communities in the form of lack of basic health care, low academic achievement, poor and crowded housing, concerns with water quality and high unemployment rates. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Poverty in the Arctic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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