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The Enlargement of the Arctic Council
Since its inception in 1996, the Arctic Council has admitted new observers to its high-level intergovernmental forum by way of eleven enlargement rounds. The first round of admissions to the Council took place in 1998 and included the four non-Arctic European states Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom as well as seven non- and inter-governmental organisations

There are currently 38 observers in the Arctic Council. Pursuant to the founding document of the Arctic Council, the Ottawa Declaration, Observer status can be accredited to any one of the following entities that "the Council determines can contribute to its work" :


 * non-Arctic states;
 * inter-governmental and inter-parliamentary organizations, global and regional; and
 * non-governmental organizations.