Economic development in the Kola region, USSR: an overview

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Doiban, Vladimir A., Pretes, Michael, Sekarev, Alexei V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1992
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Norway; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400020209; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400020209

Abstract The Kola region of northwestern USSR is the most highly developed area of the circumpolar north. Development based on exploitation and industrial refinement of natural resources, especially minerals and fish, has produced severe environmental damage in Kola and in neighbouring Norway and Finland. This article reviews the region's resources, existing development strategy and damage, and propose an alternative strategy that is environmentally and socially more benign. Possibilities for reducing the region's ties to central planning authorities and integration of the economy with that of norther Europe are also considered.