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Singapore and the Arctic: Tropical Country, Polar Interests

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Asia and the Arctic

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Abstract

At first blush, Singapore is not an obvious contender for a country that has interests in the Arctic, much less a role to play in the Arctic Council, the region’s premier intergovernmental forum. Singapore’s latitude is 1 degree north—65 degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

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References

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Storey, I. (2016). Singapore and the Arctic: Tropical Country, Polar Interests. In: Sakhuja, V., Narula, K. (eds) Asia and the Arctic. Springer Geology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2059-9_7

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