What you should know about the Barents Island

What you should know about the island of Barents, a fascinating place that is completely uninhabited within the archipelago of the Svalbard islands, between those identified as Edgeøya and Spitsbergen; discover interesting details about her and more.

What you should know about the Barents Island

It is a territory of Norway and whose name has been awarded to the explorer of Dutch origin Willen Barents as well as the sea of ​​the same name; since they were discovered by this famous character in the year 1596.

The territory of the Barents Island has an area of ​​1,288 km², of which about 588 km² of glaciers are represented by glaciers, which makes it practically a region whose conditions do not facilitate the permanence of human beings in it for a long time.

Its highest point is Schweinfurthberget and it is 590 meters above sea level.

Although it is a completely uninhabited island, it has relevant interest worldwide, its perimeter is 204 km, it has a length of 48 km and a width of 43.

This arctic island, despite its adverse weather conditions, is inhabited by some important marine species.

It is under the sovereignty of Norway as well as others in the Svaldbard archipelago such as Bear Island, Spitsbergen and Hopen that are inhabited.

They are the scene of different emblematic species of the Arctic, such as the walrus, the polar bear and the Beluga.

It should be noted that although other adjacent islands have means for the subsistence of their residents, in all of them the means of access are by boat, plane, helicopter and snowmobile; being in many cases, under really precarious conditions.

The entire archipelago where the island of Barents is located, among others, when discovered by Willen Barents, was baptized with the name of Spitsbergen, which when translated into Spanish means “sharp mountains” because their elevations, when observed from a distance, seemed float on the sea.

Then in 1920 it was given the name of Svalbard or “Cold Coast” in the Old Norwegian language. Through the study of historical documents it has been deduced that it is possible that the Vikings moved through this territory in the 12th century, including some of the Russian peoples.

Its geological cartography was carried out by representative teams from universities such as Cambridge and some other relevant ones in the world; Directed by W. Brian Harlande from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The Barents Island has a climate that is regulated by high latitudes and polar and arctic air masses; but that in turn is influenced by the atmospheric and maritime currents coming from the south of the Arctic Glacier Ocean and the North Atlantic.

Although the Barents may not be as prominent a place in history as the Berlin Wall was, it should be noted that scenes that were part of the Cold War were staged in its waters and in the vicinity of which naval actions were carried out during the 20th century. despite how difficult it is to navigate these waters.

But many submarine nuclear arsenals were deposited in them and it gives life to quality phytoplankton that serves to feed species such as cod, whales, walruses and many more.

It should be noted that its cod are the largest in the world and a large amount of the fishing activity has been managed jointly between Norway and Russia since 1976.

Many Arctic fishermen wait for the ice to retreat to exploit their vast fishery wealth; but also there are large deposits of gas and oil.

Tourism is also in full expansion for the most roasted travelers who do not mind suffering a little cold in order to get to know this ancient region of the world.

Barents Euro-Arctic Council

Discover everything you need to know about the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, an intergovernmental cooperation organization that seeks to reach agreements in this European region through which sustainable development is achieved and the solution of different problems that arise today.

What is the Barents Euro-Arctic Council?

Identified by the acronym BEAC, this intergovernmental cooperation organization of the Barents region is presented, a name that was born by the defenders of the territories in this location in the world, as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union.

It is known as the Barents region, following this order of ideas from Nordland in Norway to the Kola Peninsula in Russia; also including up to the vicinity of the Ural Mountains and Novaya Zemlya; while to the south it covers up to Lakes Ladoga and Onega, plus the surroundings of the Gulf of Bothnia within the Baltic Sea.

Returning to the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, it is necessary to indicate that it is an organization within which solutions are sought to favor the cooperative work of these territories in favor of their development, supporting in this sense multilateral activities between different nations.

Members of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council

This intergovernmental cooperation body has among its members representatives from the following nations: Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Sweden and the European Commission.

During the development of its activities, it is accompanied by nations such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States on behalf of America.

Its presidency is held on a rotating basis every two years, since its creation in 1993. It is assigned to representatives of some of its member nations.

While their cooperative work was classified under two levels, one of them the BEAC or Barents Euroarctic Council and the other the Barents Regional Council or BRC.

If you want to know more about this type of historical events and curiosities about certain places in the world that have witnessed events that marked humanity, we invite you to read other articles already available on our blog.

Members of the Barents Regional Council

The members of the Barents Regional Council are represented by authorities from:

  • From the country of Finland: North Karelia, Lapland, Kainuu and Oulu.
  • On behalf of Norway: Finnmark, Nordland and Troms.
  • Representing Russia: Arkhangelsk, Karelia, Komi, Murmansk, Nenets.
  • While for Sweden: Västerbotten and Norrbotten.

During their sections they also have as observers the Parliamentary Association of Northwest Russia and the Council of Christian Churches in the Barents Region.

The presidency of the Barents Regional Council is rotated among the members of its fourteen counties; being currently held by the Nenets of Russia for the period between 2021 and 2023.

This council meets twice a year, at which time the priority problems of regional cooperation that are part of its program are presented and within the framework of the guidelines for interregional cooperation of the Barents, all of them seeking to strengthen sustainable development. of this region and promote collaborative agreements between the peoples in the north.

 

Role of Indigenous Peoples in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council

The working groups of this organization have councils that are a cross-border platform that allows the exchange of professionals and activities, with which projects are implemented in which indigenous peoples participate, such as the Nenets, Sámi and Vepsians.

It plays an important advisory role in both the BEAC and BRC sections; since they contribute ideas and solutions, with which a quick solution is given to problems of a social, economic and political nature that they are currently experiencing.

To this is added a long list of working groups at the order of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council made up of young people, while from the forestry, transport, health, business, environmental conservation, tourism and many more; who seek to improve the quality of life in this territory.

Curiosities about the Barents Sea

Discover incredible curiosities about the Barents Sea, located in a sector of the Arctic Ocean and named after Willem Barents, who was an important navigator of Dutch origin; Do not miss it.

Curiosities about the Barents Sea

This formidable sea that is characterized by remaining free of ice throughout the year, although it has very cold temperatures; it remains in navigable conditions, due to the influence of the North Atlantic currents.

There are many geographical features around it, such as the Chesha Bay, the North Cape and Zhelániya, Mátochkin, Yugor, Kara and the Scandinavian, Kola and Kanín peninsulas, among others.

The Norwegian Sea and the Kara Sea are close to it, as well as the island of Kolgueyev in its interior.

Did you know that its surface is 1,405,000 km², has a volume of water of around 282,000 km³ and maintains a maximum depth of 600 meters.

Interestingly, it was explored by Willem Barents, one of the first to explore the northern lands; as was the case of Bear Island in this sea in the year 1596.

The Barents Sea is surrounded by coastlines like those found in its western region represented by cliffs, fjords and rocky coastlines; while towards the east there are bays and small coves. On the other hand, to its north, glaciers from the Arctic can be seen.

Its shallow depth has allowed its industrial energy use by Norway, in addition to being in the second largest gas reserve in Europe.

Its climate is milder than could be expected because it is influenced by the meteorology of Norway and Greenland, however it is influenced by the masses of hot water coming from the Atlantic Ocean, which, when found with its icy temperature, mix, avoiding the formation of dense blocks of ice.

The fauna present in the Barents Sea, have a habitat that benefits them in the summer season, when it permanently heats its surface, leading to a stratification of its temperature; where the cold waters sink and the warm ones emerge creating a nutritious phytoplankton that rises to the surface.

Among other things this phytoplankton is the food source for magnificent cod, whales and capelin.

The wealth of this sea is unquantifiable, specimens such as hake and cod are fished in it by the Russians and Norwegians; in turn, there are large families of seals and king crabs from Kamchatka; which is characterized by being large as well as very voracious, which at the moment curiously worries many biologists who carry out studies to determine what are the consequences that they cause in their path, on the phytoplankton that serves as food for many other species.

Another curious detail that is appreciated in the Barents Sea are the giant craters that could solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.

These huge holes could provide the necessary information for scientists at the Arctic University of Norway to understand how they have developed by virtue of leaking marine methane, similar to what is experienced in Bermuda.

With these investigations, the risks presented for navigation due to explosions under the sea will be addressed and that could reveal the cause of the ship sinking in this area.

In general, the characteristics of the Barents Sea alone represent a curiosity, since it is rectangular in shape, measuring about 1,300 kilometers from north to south, with a width of 1,050 kilometers.

Formerly it was known by the Vikings and the Russians under the name of the Murmean Sea and which was changed to the year 1653 in honor of its explorer; who crosses it practically by chance as they find themselves following the best sea route between Europe and North Asia.

Brief review of the Cold War

Brief review of the Cold War, a conflict that arose due to a series of economic, political, military, social and ideological consequences that developed after the end of World War II, especially between two great powers; discover everything you would be interested in knowing.

Brief review of the Cold War

The Cold War was a confrontation that took place between two blocks that pursued different ideals; they being identified as the capitalist or western with the United States at its head while the eastern one was the communist eastern, represented by the Soviet Union.

Although as it is known through the analysis carried out regarding the consequences of the incidences of the Second World War, which ends in 1945; There were many crises suffered by the nations that were involved in this armed conflict and even those that did not participate.

The Cold War begins its first phase, practically after the United States creates a military alliance through NATO in 1949, in order to have international support to stop the growing Soviet influence over Europe.

For its part, the Soviet Union is not far behind and in response also establishes alliances, in this case being the Warsaw Pact, finalized for 1955.

This undoubtedly triggers new crises that influence the lives of other nations; those that for some years have been facing their own conflicts, as was the case of the Berlin blockade, which took place in the period between 1948 and 1949.

Subsequently, the next phase of the Cold War, marked by the Chinese civil war, staged from 1946 and 1949, is added to the Korean War in the years between 1950 and 1953, plus the Suez crisis in 1956, the Berlin in 1961 and during 1962 the appearance of the Cuban missiles.

Within all this warlike panorama both the United States and the Soviet Union began to demonstrate their power as world powers, in order to compete to show who was more influential in the eyes of Latin America, the Middle East and many nations that had recently been colonized. in Asia and Africa.

It should be noted that in the latter, communism had great force, which led to harsh clashes that degenerated into other consequences such as the Indochina war or the Malayan Emergency.

Many historians consider that the Cold War ended when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, after which the Soviet Union also disappeared in 1991.

The truth is that it was a conflict that lasted for 45 years, showing during its development a lot of tension in the world, despite the fact that technically both the United States and the Soviet Union remained at peace throughout these years. years.

But it became clear that both powers competed to show the rest of the nations of the world, those who built the best nuclear arsenals, as a challenge so that they would not dare to attack them.

In those years, for many Americans, air raid drills were part of the activities of their daily lives, which was experienced in an almost similar way in the territories under the domination of the Soviet Union.

These two great world powers managed to divide the regions of many nations that they occupied and took control of them as part of their dynamic post-war global order.

Under this scenario, the world was very close to a nuclear war, precisely because the representatives of the two conflicting blocs became involved in an arms competition, regardless of the amount of money used to build their arsenals.

If you want to know more about this type of historical events and curiosities about certain places in the world that have witnessed events that marked humanity, we invite you to read other articles already available on our blog.