Criteria

• Is the Inventory exhaustive?

  Please note that AII is not an exhaustive list of Arctic infrastructure projects and assets. For more information about how projects and assets were added to the list, please refer to the Methodology section.

• How does AII define 'Arctic?'

  AII follows the Arctic Mapping and Assessment Program’s (AMAP) definition of the Arctic Region except (1) where one of the eight Arctic states has established legal or administrative boundaries for its own Arctic lands and waters, and (2) where preserving the territorial integrity of regional administrative boundaries is practicable.

  Thus, AII defines the Arctic as:

  • All United States territory north and west of the boundary formed by the Porcupine, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers; all contiguous seas, including the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi Seas; and the Aleutian chain;
  • the Canadian provinces of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut; the autonomous regions of Nunavik and Nunatsiavut; Hudson Bay; and all other lands and waters east of Hudson Bay and north of the 60th parallel;
  • Iceland;
  • Greenland and the Faroe Islands;
  • the Norwegian counties of Nordland and Troms og Finnmark; and Svalbard, Bjornoya, and Jan Mayen;
  • the Swedish counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten;
  • the Finnish province of Lapland, and;
  • the Russian federal subjects of Murmansk Oblast, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Districts of Mezensky, Novaya Zemlya, Onezhsky, and Primorsky in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the City of Vorkuta in the Korni Republic, the Districts of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky and Turukhansky in Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the Districts of Allaikhovsky, Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Nizhnekolmsky, and Ust-Yansky in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

  Please note, some AII entries may lie outside the Arctic Region as defined above. If you believe an entry does not qualify for inclusion in AII, or if you believe AII is missing an entry, contact us.

• Why does AII include projects only partially/tangentially located in the Arctic (e.g. pipelines, railways, roads)?

  Some projects, such as pipelines, railroads, roads, and other infrastructure which traverse sections of the Arctic but are not wholly contained within the region, may nonetheless contribute to economic growth and activity in the region or play a critical role supporting other Arctic projects. These are included in AII on a case-by-case basis and are noted as “non-Arctic.”

• How does AII define 'infrastructure?'

  The fundamental structures and systems necessary for the proper functioning of society. This includes both public and private physical assets such as buildings, roads, ports, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications equipment, mines, oil rigs, pipelines, etc.

• What categories does AII use to differentiate projects?

  AII classifies projects into five main categories: energy, transportation, communications, civil, and military. Several sub-types exist within these main categories, including: aviation, buildings, industry, marine, mining, nuclear, power, rail, renewables, road, sewage, tourism, trade, and water, among others.

• Is there a lower cost limit for Inventory projects?

  At present, there is no lower cost limit for entries in AII. However, due to the historical nature of the data and the methodology, most individual projects have an estimated cost greater than $10 million. An immediate priority is to incorporate projects below this threshold, to ensure a more complete picture of infrastructure in the Arctic.

• What is 'project status?'

  Project status can be any one of the following: Completed, In Progress, Proposed, Suspended, or Terminated.

  • Completed: Indicates a project is fully operational with limited ongoing or potential renovations.
  • In Progress: Under construction after receiving all appropriate and necessary permits and authorizations.
  • Proposed: Currently seeking permits and authorizations or financial support from investors.
  • Suspended: Work on the project has been temporarily halted or stopped, with the presumption that progress may resume at a future date.
  • Terminated: The project has been canceled for any number of reasons, such as failure to secure the necessary permits or financing, bankruptcy, or termination of work by the project’s backers.
• Why does AII include projects that have been suspended or abandoned by owners/operators?

  AII includes suspended and terminated projects to provide a fuller picture of the history of infrastructure across the Arctic, enabling analysis of emerging as well as long-term trends. 

• What is the information threshold for including or excluding projects in AII?

  While ultimately the threshold may vary slightly on a case-by-case basis, the general information threshold to admit projects to AII include: project name, project type, project cost, project location (exact coordinates are ideal), project funder, and project operator. A project without this information may not be useful for users of AII and would be impractical to include.

• How does AII account for foreign exchange rates when calculating project cost?

  AII pegs foreign currencies to the dollar based on yearly average exchange rates calculated by the Internal Revenue Service, e.g. 1 USD = 1.327 CAD, the yearly average exchange rate for the Canadian Dollar in 2019. For a full list of the yearly average exchange rates used by AII, see the table below.