Arctic Council

Established: By the Declaration on the Establishment of the Arctic Council, signed September 19, 1996, in Ottawa, Canada.

Purpose: To provide regular intergovernmental consultation on Arctic issues to ensure the well-being of the inhabitants of the Arctic, sustainable development, and the protection of the environment.

Principal Organs: Ministerial Meetings, Senior Arctic Officials Meetings, Secretariat.

Web site: www.arctic-council.org

Chair: Jonas Gahr Støre (Norway).

Membership (8): Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States. There are also six “Permanent Participants” representing Arctic indigenous peoples as allowed by the charter: the Aleut International Association, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, the Gwich'in Council International, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North.

Observers (8): China, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom. The ...