Geosystem approach to socio-economic development in the regions of the North of Russia

The paper considers the Russian North in various geographical dimensions: circumpolar, zonal (latitudinal), meridional, structural and territorial. The author estimates the number and dynamics of the population in three zones of the Russian North with the use of primary data provided by district and regional municipalities; he uses the same data to arrange the Northern territories into groups depending on the systems of resettlement of the population and economic specialization of the territories. The analysis of “anatomy” of the North shows that the majority of issues related to socio-economic policy should be considered at the regional and local levels with regard to those territorial and economic systems which have already been formed, but require modernization on the basis of technology adapted for extreme and difficult climatic conditions. The applied part of research on the issues of the North is linked to the theory of the territorial (geosystem) organization of economy.