• Age: 14
• Grade: 9

When many of us picture the areas surrounding the North Pole, we imagine barren landscapes, wintry conditions, and sparse human and animal populations. Opening up the Circumpolar Health Atlas will undoubtedly change this perception. Abounding with hundreds of vibrant, full-colour photographs and maps, this book presents a stunning and immersive portrait of life in the Arctic region, with an emphasis on the factors that contribute to human health in this area. Written with the general reader in mind, it can be enjoyed even by those who have little previous knowledge about the circumpolar regions.

The Circumpolar Health Atlas is also an informative and practical reference guide for health researchers, service providers, and policy makers, as it offers a broad, multidisciplinary understanding of the health of diverse populations who inhabit the polar regions of the northern hemisphere. The atlas includes overviews of the physical environment that influences human health; cultures and languages of northern peoples; different diseases and health conditions; and health systems, policies, resources, and services. It concludes with information on how education and research can be used to improve health in these regions.

T. Kue Young is the TransCanada Chair in Aboriginal Health in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

T. Kue Young's profile page

• Runner-up, International Cartographic Association Map Awards - Atlases Category

‘The Atlas takes a unique, comparative research project and allows anybody to understand it. The result is a visually stunning and delightful piece of work that mixes serious issues with the ease and pleasure of a coffee-table art book.’

Journal Nordic-Mediterraneum: Icelandic e-journal, vol8:01:2013

‘Editors have succeeded in creating a scientific book that is also a work of art. Highly recommended. All Academic, general, and professional readers.’

Choice Magazine, vol 50:02:2012

‘The Circumpolar Health Atlas is unusual in that it could sit on one’s coffee table to be dipped into when one felt the need to gaze at a pleasing arctic image or map, or to be surprised by a fact that one did not know before. However, it could be equally at home in a middle or high school, on a college curriculum, and not the least, on a scholarly bookshelf as a useful reference work.’

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research vol 45:01:2013

‘Circumpolar Health Atlas shines in its visual and general appeal and simplicity of design… I would consider this book an exceptional gift. It was a treat to review and I would recommend it highly for the circumpolar enthusiast as well as any interested citizen.’

Arctic; June 2013

Circumpolar Health Atlas

This comprehensive, colourful and easy-to-read guide highlights the unique circumstances and problems experienced by the peoples who live in the northernmost regions of the world. Information is made accessible though maps, charts, graphs, satellite images, spectacular photographs and artwork. Due to sweeping social and economic changes since the 1950s, northern peoples’ traditional lifestyles have been radically altered, affecting various aspects of their health. The book is divided into five sections focusing on the physical and natural world of the Arctic, histories, cultures and languages, and health determinants and conditions. It concludes with services, government policies, education and research currently underway, which are vital for improving health in the north. This is a thoroughly researched study of a rapidly changing part of the world.