Russia has 40 legally recognized Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Of the 40 Indigenous Peoples, 11 live around or above the Arctic Circle, the largest groups including Dolgan, Nganasan, Nenets, Saami, Khanty, Chukchi, Evenk, Even, Enets, Eskimo (Yupik) and Yukagir.

The Russian Arctic is an immense territory that stretches over 24,150 kilometers of coastline and includes:
- The whole of the Murmansk Region and the Nenets, Yamal-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs
- The northern municipalities of the Arkhangelsk Region, the Komi Republic, Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
- The archipelagoes and islands in the Russian portion of the Arctic Ocean

Russia stretches over 53 percent of the Arctic Ocean coastline. Approximately two and a half million of Russia’s inhabitants live in Arctic territory, accounting for nearly half of the population living in the Arctic worldwide. Therefore, efficient and sustainable development of the Arctic is one of the key national priorities of the Russian Federation.

Other key national interests in the Arctic include:

• The use of the Arctic region as a strategic resource base of the Russian Federation, providing solutions to the task of socio-economic development of the country
• Preservation of the Arctic as an area of peace and cooperation
• Conservation of the unique ecosystems of the Arctic
• Use of the Northern Sea Route as a national unified transportation line of the Russian Federation in the Arctic