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The Arctic states and other international actors

Canada and Russia: the major coastal states of the Arctic Ocean with partly similar conditions and interests such as the presence of many northern indigenous peoples, the importance of sovereignty in the north and a (national) sea route, and partly different, such as Russia being a major energy producer.

USA: the global power present in the North through Alaska with its worldwide interests.

Norway and Denmark: two more coastal states of the Arctic Ocean with generally rather different conditions and interests, with Denmark present in the north through its sovereignty over Greenland and the Faroes which are autonomous regions, and Norway strongly present in the Barents Sea region with its clear 'northern interests' and policy.
Iceland: another coastal state of the North Atlantic with a strong economic interest in the northern sea areas and recently high economic growth.

Sweden and Finland: two more Arctic states with some national interest in the circumpolar North, though without coastal areas on the northern seas, but significant interests within the Baltic Sea region.

The UK, France, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea: interested observers waving a "flag", i.e. major powers from outside the region with (growing) interests in the North in many fields such as science, energy and transportation.

Indigenous peoples and sub-national governments such as e.g. the Home Rule Government of Greenland: representing the citizens and civil societies of the region and defining it as their 'homeland'.

IGOs such as the United Nations (UN), NATO, the European Union (EU) and the Arctic Council(AC): having either special duties in the region such as e.g. the AC, or different kinds of interests in respect of the region, mostly due to the member states within the region, such as via the 'Northern Dimension' of the EU but also in terms of their governance duties in respect of the UN International Law of the Sea and the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

TNCs and state-owned/dominated companies: strong commercial interests in the utilization and transportation of natural resources and in the geo-economics of the region.