Objective — to study the epidemiological situation concerning chronic respiratory diseases in economically active people aged 25—64 years who live in different climatic and geographical regions of our country and to conduct an analytical investigation to reveal the specific features of the development and course of these diseases in the northern regions in order to elaborate comprehensive addressing prevention programs. Material and methods. The standardized European death rates for respiratory diseases (RD) were comparatively analyzed in 25—64-year-old people in Russia as a whole and in individual regions of the Russian Arctic; to carry out a cross-sectional randomized epidemiological survey in three Russian regions belonging to different climatic and geographical areas of residence. Results. Firstly, the majority of the northern regions show high RD mortality rates as compared to the average Russian ones. In spite of the fact that mortality rates from chronic lower RDs in most northern regions and in Russia as a whole are higher than that in the European Union, the population of northern latitudes earlier and more often die from lower respiratory tract infections and pneumonia. Secondly, despite the fact that there are no great differences in the spread of smoking, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is significantly higher in Arctic Yakutsk than that in the other two regions – Chelyabinsk and Vologda ones. Northern residence increases the risk of chronic respiratory and cardiorespiratory diseases, by supplanting and exceeding all other risk factors in statistical significance. Conclusion. The found regional characteristics of the prevalence and mortality rates for chronic RDs should be kept in mind when elaborating programs for the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases in these regions.