1. The Arctic
   

2. It is estimated that the Arctic territories enclose a land area of about 15 million sq. km, with a population of about 4 million people. The area covers land belonging to 8 countries including Russia, the USA (Alaska), Canada, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland and Faroe islands), Norway, Sweden and Finland.
   

3. Roughly one third of the Arctic zone or 4.4 million in sq. km comprises a huge part of Russian territory, containing about 2 million people.
   

4. Whilst the Arctic is a challenging environment with extremes of nature and climatic conditions, these territories have huge reserves of oil, gas and other minerals. Development of these territories demands new approaches and technologies.
   

5. The use of specially modified vehicles with larger wheels have been demonstrated to successfully replace tracked vehicles, but as yet have no amphibious capabilities.
   

6. VIKING off-road vehicles are an efficient solution for social and economic development tasks required by the regions neighboring the Arctic, with the ability to transition from on- to off-road and full amphibious capability.

Arctic Testing on Jamal Peninsula, May 2008

1. The Yamal Peninsula (полуо́стров Яма́л), located in Yamal-Nenets, northwest Siberia, Russia, extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea, Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the Gulf of Ob on the east.
   

2. In the language of its indigenous inhabitants, the Nenets, "Yamal" means "End of the World".
   

3. Yamal holds Russia's largest natural gas reserves.