Analyse the reasons for and the consequences of the economic development of polar and sub-polar regions

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Analyse the reasons for and the consequences of the economic development of polar and sub-polar regions

        Although indigenous populations established themselves centuries ago, polar and sub-polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica have only fairly recently begun to develop. Originally classified as remote regions in the world, where the only activities, which took place, were small-scale fishing and hunting by locals in order to survive, they have become sources of great economic development and prosperity.

        Due to their proximity to many highly populated countries, Arctic regions have perhaps experienced greater economic development than Antarctic regions.  The route of this economic development began during the 17th century, when indigenous people began to increase their contact with the outside world. For example, by 1700, trading had already begun with the Hudson Bay Company in Eastern Canada as people needed food and supplies to survive as their populations grew.

 However, economic development was really boosted when people started to exploit the wide ranges of minerals. The ‘gold rushes’  during the 1890s (when gold was discovered) brought in many prospectors into Arctic regions, which led to planned investments by large companies and governments in order to exploit the mineral. In addition, Canada and Siberia had significant deposits of iron-ore, copper, zinc and uranium, which led to commercial trade. Another factor, which even today is still extremely important, is the abundant fish supplies. As demand for fish increased worldwide, fishing increased dramatically in countries such as Iceland and Norway, which led to trade and selling fish on world markets, which made an enormous contribution to their national economies.

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One region in particular, which has experienced severe economic growth and development, is the state of Alaska. In 1968, the great quantities of oil and gas discovered beneath Alaska’s North Slope, overlooking Prudhoe Bay, subsequently led to the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline to Valdez in 1974. This increased communication links and trade links and therefore brought in vast amounts of money for the economy and until 1990, oil and natural gas still provided 85% of Alaska’s gross state product.

As personal wealth and length of leisure time are increasing, people are beginning to seek out new, more exotic locations. ...

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