Arctic Council

The Arctic Council is a high-level Intergovernmental Forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic Govts. and the Indigenous People of the Arctic.

The first step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when the eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS).

Only states with territory in the Arctic can be members of the Council.


It has 8 member countries -

• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Russia
• Sweden and
• USA

Chairmanship of the Council rotates every two years.The current chair is Canada, which serves until the Ministerial meeting in May 2015.Canada (1996–1998) served as first Chair, followed by the United States (1998–2000), Finland (2000–2002), Iceland (2002–2004), Russia (2004–2006), Norway (2006–2009), Denmark (2009-2011) and Sweden (2011-2013)

Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years. As of May 2013,12 non-Arctic states have Permanent Observer status.They are -

• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• South Korea
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Singapore
• Spain and
• UK