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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.

Russia is still one of the most dangerous countries to work in as journalist.

Northern Norway

In 2009 northern Norway experienced the highest population growth since 1974. For 35 years northern Norway has had a steady decline in population, but last year the population grew with 2196.

DPS Traffic police.

The DPS (traffic police) officer received 1000 rubels in bribe – got 1 ½ year in prison.

Murmansk downtown

By June 1st, the population in Murmansk Oblast was 834.600 people.

Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi

Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi will head the network together with Russian, Norwegian and Swedish colleagues.

Russian cigarettes

Russia has almost 44 million cigarette smokers. That makes the country the world’s most-smoking nation, figures from the World Health Organization show.

Air pollution from one of the heavy-oil fired central heating plants in Murmansk.

56 percent of Russians think the environmental conditions where they live are bad or nearly catastrophic, a recent poll shows.

Vodka - the fast and cheap way to intoxication.

Russian Finance Ministry proposes a step-by-step tax rise from 42 rubles currently to 180 rubles in 2014 on half a liter of vodka.

We love Finland - Anne Figenschou is one of the youth working with the project.

New project aims at boosting the Finnish youth on the Barents Cooperation.

KIRUNA: European financial crisis is of no concern and unemployment does not exist. Iron ore company LKAB’s profit is skyrocketing as they dig their way deeper and deeper down under the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. Now, the town has to move to prevent it from sinking into the cracks left by the mine.

Finnish government plans to slash the number of municipalities in Lapland from 21 to six.

Murmansk’s unique, self-governed youth house is flourishing with creativity and plans but after a screening of the German documentary “Khodorkovsky”, the future of the house is uncertain.

The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz wanted to find the Northern Sea Route. He found Spitsbergen and got an ocean named after him, but his dream of finding a new route to Asia ended on the eastern shores of Novaya Zemlya.