uneven development

• adapting to the cold tundra environment is difficult
• the inuit have been there for a long time but settlers have struggled, there is virtually no settled population in the far north due to extremely low temperatures and months in darkness
• the permafrost and short growing season means that crop production is impossible
• food is limited in the north to subsistence farming of fishing, seal and whale hunting
• originally, the inupiat and yup'ik people used caribou skin and seal boots to keep warm, although nowadays they are as likely to use modern materials such as goose-down and gore-tex