Polar Islam: Russian Islamic Communities in the Far North

As migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia settle in Russia’s Far North cities, a new Islam is emerging in territories that were never part of its historical realm. The notion of “Polar Islam” captures the birth and structuring of Muslim communities in Russia’s Arctic cities as not only a byproduct of labor migration flows to Russia’s industrial towns, but also a new feature of Arctic urban culture and its growing multicultural environment. The blossoming of this Polar Islam confirms that Islam is no longer geographically segregated in its traditional regions, such as the North Caucasus and the Volga-Urals; it has spread to all of the country’s big cities. Marlene Laruelle, Ph.D., is Director and Research Professor at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies ( IERES ), GW. Dr. Laruelle is also a Co-Director of PONARS (Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia) and Director of GW’s Central Asia Program. Her research explores the transformations of nationalist and