Two hundred kilometres above the Arctic Circle hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are finding a new life in northern Norway, but recently the doors have been shutting on those desperate to start fresh in the High North.
Take a look at how Russian Christmas is celebrated at Malye Korely open-air museum, what is looks like to cross the frozen Dvina river by foot in -27°C, and how beautiful the old northern town of Arkhangelsk can be in mid-winter.
By the end of the year, Russia will have a total of 40 million Internet users, an international analysis company says. That will make the country the second biggest Internet user in Europe.
Over the last seven months, alcohol consumption inn Russia increased with 2,5 percent. Of the alcohol consumed, 49,6 percent was hard alcohol, the National Alcohol Association reports.
Russian federal authorities intend to triple funding of the indigenous peoples in the North. In addition, Moscow will let the regional administrations administer the money.
Tourism is one of the most prospective industries in the Barents Region, the participants in last week’s meeting in the Barents Working Group on Tourism underlined.
Recent numbers show that foreign tourist have been absent in northern Norway in the first half of 2009. NHO Travel Northern Norway blames it on financial crisis.
