Spitsbergen
Encyclopedia
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island
of the Svalbard
archipelago in Norway
. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean
, the Norwegian Sea
and the Greenland Sea
. Spitsbergen covers an area of 39044 km² (15,075 sq mi), making it the largest island in Norway and the 36th-largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen
, and other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian mining community of Barentsburg
, the research community of Ny-Ålesund
and the mining outpost of Sveagruva.
The island was first used as a whaling
base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which it was abandoned. Coal mining
started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty
of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty
and established Svalbard as a free economic zone
and a demilitarized zone
. The Norwegian Store Norske
and the Russian Arktikugol remain the only mining companies. Research and tourism have became important supplementary industries, featuring among others the University Centre in Svalbard
and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve as local transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear provides the main point of entry and exit.
The island has an Arctic climate, although with significantly higher temperatures than other places at the same latitude. The flora
benefits from the long period of midnight sun
, which compensates for the polar night
. Svalbard is a breeding ground for many seabirds, and also supports polar bears, reindeer
and marine mammal
s. Six national parks protect the largely untouched, yet fragile environment. The island has many glacier
s, mountains and fjords.
spits - pointed, bergen - mountains), was at first applied to both the main island and the archipelago
as a whole
. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the islands were known as "Greenland" to the English whalers, a practice still followed in 1780 and criticized by Bacstrom at that time.
The "Spitzbergen" spelling was used in English during the 19th century, for instance by Beechey, Laing, and the Royal Society
.
In 1906, the Arctic explorer Sir Martin Conway was of the opinion that the Spitzbergen spelling was incorrect, preferring Spitsbergen,
though this had little effect on British practice.
In 1920 the treaty determining the fate of the islands was entitled the "Spitsbergen Treaty", and the islands were generally referred to in the USA as Spitsbergen from that time, although the spelling Spitzbergen was also commonly used through the 20th century. Under Norwegian governance the archipelago was named Svalbard in 1925, the main island becoming Spitsbergen, and by the end of the 20th century this usage had become general.
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The first confirmed sighting of the island was by Willem Barentsz, who came across it while searching for the Northern Sea Route
in June 1596. The first good map with the east coast roughly indicated, appeared in 1623, printed by Willem Janszoon Blaeu. Around 1660 and 1728 better maps were produced.
However, this archipelago may have been known to Russian Pomor hunters as early as the 14th or 15th century, though solid evidence from before the 17th century is lacking. Following the English whalers and others in referring to the archipelago as Greenland, they named it Grumant
(Грумант). The name Svalbard
is first mentioned in Icelandic sagas of the 10th and 11th centuries, but they more likely refer to Jan Mayen
or even Greenland
.
expeditions to Svalbard in general and Spitsbergen in particular tended, because of currents and fauna, to cluster around the western coast of Spitsbergen and the islands off-shore. Shortly after whaling began (1611), the Danish crown claimed ownership (1616) of Jan Mayen
and the Spitsbergen islands, as all of Svalbard was then known. But in 1613, the English Muscovy Company
had done the same. The primary and most profitable whaling grounds of this joint-stock company came to be centered around Spitsbergen in the early 17th Century, and the company's royal charter of 1613 granted a monopoly on whaling in Spitsbergen, based on the (erroneous) claim that Hugh Willoughby had discovered the land in 1553. Not only had they wrongly assumed a 1553 English voyage had reached the area, but on 27 June 1607, during his first voyage in search of a "northeast passage" on behalf of the company, Henry Hudson
sighted "Newland" (i.e. Spitsbergen), near the mouth of the great bay Hudson later simply named the Great Indraught (Isfjorden
). In this way the English hoped to head off expansion by the Dutch in the region, at the time their major rival.
Initially the English tried to drive away competitors; but after disputes with the Dutch (1613–24), they, for the most part, only claimed the bays south of Kongsfjorden
.
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From 1617 onwards, a Danish-chartered company began sending whaling fleets to Spitsbergen. This successful expansion by Copenhagen into the North Atlantic has recently been cited by historians as the first step of the Danish-Norwegian state into overseas colonialism, which eventually built a small 17th century empire of East Indian trade posts, North Atlantic possessions (such as Greenland and Iceland) and a small Atlantic trade route between possessions on the Guinea Coast (in modern Ghana
) and what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The entire Svalbard archipelago, nominally ruled first by Denmark–Norway
, and later the Norwegians (as Union between Sweden and Norway
from 1814–1905, independent Norway from 1905), remained a source of riches for fishery and whaling vessels from many nations. The islands also became the launching point for a number of Arctic explorers, including William Edward Parry
, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
, Otto Martin Torell
, Alfred Gabriel Nathorst
, Roald Amundsen
and Ernest Shackleton
.
. The Spitsbergen Treaty of February 9, 1920, recognises the full and absolute sovereignty of Norway over all the arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. Originally limited to nine signatory nations, over 40 are now signatories of the treaty. Citizens of any of the signatory countries may settle in the archipelago. Currently, only Norway
and Russia
make use of this right.
Once named Spitsbergen for its largest island, the Svalbard was made a part of Norway—not a dependency—by the Svalbard Act of 1925. Since this date it has been a portion of Norway, with a Norwegian appointed Governor resident at the capitol of Longyearbyen, albeit with limitations on the imposition of certain Norwegian laws as outlined in the Spitsbergen Treaty.
The largest settlement on Spitsbergen is the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen
, while the second largest settlement is the Russian coal mining
settlement of Barentsburg
(which was sold by the Netherlands in 1932 to the Soviet company Arktikugol). Other settlements on the island include the former Russian mining communities of Grumant
byen and Pyramiden
(abandoned in 1961 and 1998, respectively), a Polish research station
at Hornsundet, and the remote northern settlement of Ny-Ålesund
.
from occupying the islands. While the island had officially been ceded to Norway
in the 1920s, that country fell under German occupation
in 1940. The majority of inhabitants on the island were Russian (the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact
with Germany until 22 June 1941). The United Kingdom
and Canada
sent military forces to the island to destroy installations, mainly Soviet coal mines, and prevent the Germans from occupying it.
The German battleship Tirpitz
and an escort flotilla shelled and destroyed the Allied weather station there in Operation Zitronella
in 1943. On 6 September, a squadron consisting of Tirpitz, the battleship Scharnhorst
and nine destroyers weighed anchor in Altenfjord and Kåfjord and headed for Spitsbergen, to attack the Allied base there. At dawn on 8 September 1943 Tirpitz and Scharnhorst opened fire against the two 3-inch guns which comprised the defences of Barentsburg, and the destroyers ran inshore with landing parties. Before noon it was all over. Some prisoners had been taken, a supply dump destroyed, the wireless station wrecked and the landing parties had returned on board. The German ships returned safely to Altenfjord and Kåfjord on 9 September 1943. This was to be the last operation for the Tirpitz.
of 1920 established full Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard. All forty signatory countries of the treaty have the right to conduct commercial activities on the archipelago without discrimination, although all activity is subject to Norwegian legislation. The treaty limits Norway's right to collect taxes to that of financing services on Svalbard. Spitsbergen is a demilitarized zone
, as the treaty prohibits the establishment of military installations. The treaty requires Norway to protect the natural environment. The island is administrated by the Governor of Svalbard
, who holds the responsibility as both county governor
and chief of police
, as well as holding other authority granted from the executive branch. Although Norway is part of the European Economic Area
(EEA) and the Schengen Agreement
, Svalbard is not part of the Schengen Area
nor EEA. Residents of Spitsbergen do not need visas for Schengen, but are prohibited from reaching Svalbard from mainland Norway without such. People without a means to income, can be rejected by the governor. Citizens of any treaty signatory country may visit the island without a visa. Russia retains a consulate in Barentsburg.
In 2009, Spitsbergen had a population of 2,753, of which 423 were Russian
and Ukrainian
, 10 were Polish
and 322 were non-Norwegians living in Norwegian settlements. The largest non-Norwegian groups in Longyearbyen in 2005 were from Thailand
, Sweden
, Denmark
, Russia
and Germany
. Spitsbergen is among the safest places on Earth, with virtually no crime.
Longyearbyen
is the largest settlement on the island, the seat of the governor and the only town to be incorporated. The town features a hospital, primary and secondary school, university, sports centre with a swimming pool, library, cultural centre, cinema, bus transport, hotels, a bank, and several museums. The newspaper Svalbardposten
is published weekly. Only a small fraction of the mining activity remains at Longyearbyen; instead, workers commute to Sveagruva (or Svea) where Store Norske operates a mine. Sveagruva is a dorm town, with workers commuting from Longyearbyen on a weekly basis.
Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality
, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. No care or nursing services are available, nor is welfare payment available. Norwegian residents retain pension and medical rights through their mainland municipalities. The hospital is part of University Hospital of North Norway, while the airport is operated by state-owned Avinor
. Ny-Ålesund and Barentsburg remain company town
s with all infrastructure owned by Kings Bay and Arktikugol, respectively. Other public offices with presence on Svalbard are the Norwegian Directorate of Mining
, the Norwegian Polar Institute
, the Norwegian Tax Administration and the Church of Norway
. Svalbard is subordinate Nord-Troms District Court
and Hålogaland Court of Appeal
, both located in Tromsø.
Ny-Ålesund
is a permanent settlement based entirely around research. Formerly a mining town, it is still a company town
operated by the Norwegian state-owned Kings Bay. While there is some tourism at the village, Norwegian authorities limit the access to the outpost to minimise impact on the scientific work. Ny-Ålesund has a winter population of 35 and a summer population of 180. Poland operates the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund
, with ten permanent residents.
Barentsburg
is the only remaining Russian settlement, after Pyramiden
was abandoned in 1998. A company town, all facilities are owned by Arktikugol, who operate a coal mine, although operation has been halted since 2006. In addition to the mining facilities, Arktikugol has opened a hotel and souvenir shop, catering to tourists taking day trips or hikes from Longyearbyen. The village has facilities such as a school, library, sports center, community center, swimming pool, farm and greenhouse. Pyramiden has similar facilities; both are built in typical Soviet style and are the site of the world's two most northerly Lenin statues and other socialist realism
artwork.
, tourism
and research
. In 2007, there were 484 people working in the mining sector, 211 people working in the tourism sector and 111 people working in the education sector. The same year, mining produced a revenue of NOK 2,008 million, tourism NOK 317 million and research NOK 142 million. In 2006, the average income for economically active people was NOK 494,700—23% higher than on the mainland. Almost all housing is owned by the various employers and institutions and rented to their employees; there are only a few privately-owned houses, most of which are recreational cabins. Because of this, it is almost impossible to live on Spitsbergen without working for an established institution.
Since the resettlement of Spitsbergen in the early 20th century, coal mining has been the dominant commercial activity. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry
, operates Svea Nord in Sveagruva and Mine 7 in Longyearbyen. The former produced 3.4 million tonnes in 2008, while the latter sends 35% of its output to Longyearbyen Power Station. Since 2007, there has not been any significant mining by the Russian state-owned Arktikugol in Barentsburg. There has previously been some test drilling for petroleum on land, but this did not give results good enough to justify permanent operation. The Norwegian authorities do not allow offshore petroleum drilling activities for environmental reasons, and the land formerly test-drilled on has been protected as nature reserves or national parks.
Spitsbergen has historically been a base for both whaling
and fishing
. Norway claimed a 200 NM exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) around Svalbard in 1977, Norway retains a restrictive fisheries policy in the zone, and the claims are disputed by Russia. Tourism is focused on the environment and is centered around Longyearbyen. Activities include hiking, kayaking, walks through glacier caves and snow-scooter and dog-sled safaris. Cruise ships generate a significant portion of the traffic, including stops by both offshore vessels and expeditionary cruises starting and ending in Svalbard. Traffic is strongly concentrated between March and August; overnight stays have quintupled from 1991 to 2008, when there were 93,000 guest-nights.
Research on Svalbard centers around Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, the most accessible areas in the high Arctic. Norway grants permission for any nation to conduct research on Svalbard, resulting in the Polish Polar Station, Indian Himadri Station
, and the Chinese Arctic Yellow River Station
, plus Russian facilities in Barentsburg. The University Centre in Svalbard
in Longyearbyen offers undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses to 350 students in various arctic sciences, particularly biology
, geology
and geophysics
. Courses are provided to supplement studies at the mainland universities; there are no tuition fees and courses are held in English, with Norwegian and international students equally represented. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
is a "doomsday
" seedbank
to store seeds from as many of the world's crop varieties and their botanical wild relatives as possible. A cooperation between the government of Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust
, the vault is cut into rock near Longyearbyen, keeping it at a natural −6 C and refrigerating the seeds to −18 C. The Svalbard Undersea Cable System
is a 1440 km (894.8 mi) fibre optic
line from Svalbard to Harstad
, needed for communicating with polar orbit
ing satellite
through Svalbard Satellite Station and installations in Ny-Ålesund.
Svalbard Airport, Longyear, located 3 kilometres (2 mi) from Longyearbyen, is the only airport offering air transport off and onto the island. Scandinavian Airlines has daily scheduled services to Tromsø
and Oslo
; there are also irregular charter services to Russia. Lufttransport
provides regular corporate charter services from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund Airport and Svea Airport
for Kings Bay and Store Norske; these flights are in general not available to the public. There are heliport
s in Barentsburg and Pyramiden, and helicopters are frequently used by the governor and to a lesser extent the mining company Arktikugol.
moderates Spitsbergens's temperatures, particularly during winter, giving it up to 20 C-change higher winter temperature than similar latitudes in Russia and Canada. This keeps the surrounding waters open and navigable most of the year. The interior fjord areas and valleys, sheltered by the mountains, have less temperature differences than the coast, giving about 2 C-change lower summer temperatures and 3 C-change higher winter temperatures. On the south of Spitsbergen, the temperature is slightly higher than further north and west. During winter, the temperature difference between south and north is typically 5 C-change, while about 3 C-change in summer.
Spitsbergen is the meeting place for cold polar air from the north and mild, wet sea air from the south, creating low pressure and changing weather and fast winds, particularly in winter; in January, a strong breeze is registered 17% of the time at Isfjord Radio
, but only 1% of the time in July. In summer, particularly away from land, fog is common, with visibility under 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) registered 20% of the time in July. Precipitation is frequent, but falls in small quantities, typically less than 400 millimetres (15.7 in) in western Spitsbergen. More rain falls in the uninhabited east side, where there can be more than 1000 millimetres (39.4 in).
In addition to humans, four primarily terrestrial mammalian species inhabit the island: the Arctic Fox
, the Svalbard reindeer
, polar bear
s, and accidentally introduced Southern Vole
, which are only found in Grumant. Attempts to introduce the Arctic Hare
and the muskox have both failed. There are fifteen to twenty types of marine mammals, including whale
s, dolphin
s, seals
and walrus
es.
Polar bears are the iconic symbol of Spitsbergen, and one of the main tourist attractions. While protected, anyone outside of settlements is required to carry a rifle
to kill polar bears in self-defence, as a last resort, should they attack. Spitsbergen shares a common polar bear population with the rest of Svalbard and Franz Joseph Land. The Svalbard reindeer (R. tarandus platyrhynchus) is a distinct sub-species, and while previously almost extinct, hunting is permitted for both it and the Arctic Fox. There are a limited number of domesticated animals in Russian settlements.
About thirty types of bird are found on Spitsbergen, most of which are migratory. The Barents Sea is among the areas in the world with most seabird
s, with about 20 million individuals during late summer. The most common are Little Auk
, Northern Fulmar
, Thick-billed Murre and Black-legged Kittiwake
. Sixteen species are on the IUCN Red List
. Particularly Storfjorden and Nordvest-Spitsbergen are important breeding ground for seabirds. The Arctic Tern
has the furthest migration, all the way to Antarctica. Only two songbirds migrate to Spitsbergen to breed: the Snow Bunting
and the Wheatear
. Rock Ptarmigan is the only bird to overwinter. Remains of Predator X
from the Jurassic
period have been found; it is the largest dinosaur-era marine reptile
ever found—a pliosaur
estimated to be almost 15 m (49.2 ft) long.
Svalbard has permafrost
and tundra
, with both low, middle and high Arctic vegetation
. 165 species of plants have been found on the archipelago. Only those areas which defrost in the summer have vegetations. Vegetation is most abundant in Nordenskiöld Land
, around Isfjorden and where effected by guano
. While there is little precipitation, giving the island a steppe
climate, plants still have good access to water because the cold climate reduces evaporation. The growing season is very short, and may only last a few weeks.
There are six national parks in Spitsbergen: Indre Wijdefjorden
, Nordenskiöld Land
, Nordre Isfjorden Land, Nordvest-Spitsbergen, Sassen-Bünsow Land
and Sør-Spitsbergen
. The island also features Festningen Geotope Protected Area
; some of the northeastern coast is part of Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
. All human traces dating from before 1946 are automatically protected. Svalbard is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of the Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
archipelago in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
, the Norwegian Sea
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is located between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea and adjoins the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a...
and the Greenland Sea
Greenland Sea
The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean, sometimes as part of the...
. Spitsbergen covers an area of 39044 km² (15,075 sq mi), making it the largest island in Norway and the 36th-largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
, and other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian mining community of Barentsburg
Barentsburg
Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants , almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.-Status:...
, the research community of Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund is one of the four permanent settlements on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the Brøgger peninsula at Kongsfjorden...
and the mining outpost of Sveagruva.
The island was first used as a whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which it was abandoned. Coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty
Svalbard Treaty
The Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen signed in Paris 9th February 1920, commonly called the Svalbard Treaty or the Spitsbergen Treaty...
of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
and established Svalbard as a free economic zone
Free economic zone
Many countries have, or have had at some time, designated areas where companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage development or for some other reason...
and a demilitarized zone
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
. The Norwegian Store Norske
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani , or simply Store Norske, is a Norwegian coal mining company based on the Svalbard archipelago. It was formed in 1916, after a Norwegian purchase of the American Arctic Coal Company ....
and the Russian Arktikugol remain the only mining companies. Research and tourism have became important supplementary industries, featuring among others the University Centre in Svalbard
University Centre in Svalbard
The University Centre in Svalbard is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that provides university-level education in arctic studies. The universities of Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim are represented on its board. The centre is known as...
and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about from the North Pole. The facility preserves a wide variety of plant seeds in an underground cavern. The seeds are...
. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve as local transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear provides the main point of entry and exit.
The island has an Arctic climate, although with significantly higher temperatures than other places at the same latitude. The flora
Flora of Svalbard
There are 164 vascular plant species on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. This figure does not include algae, mosses, and lichens, which are non-vascular plants. For an island so far north, 164 species constitutes an astonishing variety of plant life. Because of the harsh climate and...
benefits from the long period of midnight sun
Midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous...
, which compensates for the polar night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
. Svalbard is a breeding ground for many seabirds, and also supports polar bears, reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
and marine mammal
Marine mammal
Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...
s. Six national parks protect the largely untouched, yet fragile environment. The island has many glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, mountains and fjords.
Etymology
Spitsbergen was named by its discoverer Willem Barentsz in 1596. The name Spitsbergen, meaning “pointed mountains” (from the DutchDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
spits - pointed, bergen - mountains), was at first applied to both the main island and the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
as a whole
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the islands were known as "Greenland" to the English whalers, a practice still followed in 1780 and criticized by Bacstrom at that time.
The "Spitzbergen" spelling was used in English during the 19th century, for instance by Beechey, Laing, and the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
In 1906, the Arctic explorer Sir Martin Conway was of the opinion that the Spitzbergen spelling was incorrect, preferring Spitsbergen,
though this had little effect on British practice.
In 1920 the treaty determining the fate of the islands was entitled the "Spitsbergen Treaty", and the islands were generally referred to in the USA as Spitsbergen from that time, although the spelling Spitzbergen was also commonly used through the 20th century. Under Norwegian governance the archipelago was named Svalbard in 1925, the main island becoming Spitsbergen, and by the end of the 20th century this usage had become general.
History
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...
in June 1596. The first good map with the east coast roughly indicated, appeared in 1623, printed by Willem Janszoon Blaeu. Around 1660 and 1728 better maps were produced.
However, this archipelago may have been known to Russian Pomor hunters as early as the 14th or 15th century, though solid evidence from before the 17th century is lacking. Following the English whalers and others in referring to the archipelago as Greenland, they named it Grumant
Grumant
Grumant was a Soviet Russian settlement in Svalbard, Norway, established in 1912 and abandoned in 1965. The population peaked at 1106 in 1951/52 . The name ‘Grumant’ is Pomor in origin, and is also use to refer to the whole of the Svalbard archipelago...
(Грумант). The name Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
is first mentioned in Icelandic sagas of the 10th and 11th centuries, but they more likely refer to Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen Island is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is long and 373 km2 in area, partly covered by glaciers . It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by an isthmus wide...
or even Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
.
Early claims
Early whalingWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
expeditions to Svalbard in general and Spitsbergen in particular tended, because of currents and fauna, to cluster around the western coast of Spitsbergen and the islands off-shore. Shortly after whaling began (1611), the Danish crown claimed ownership (1616) of Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen Island is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is long and 373 km2 in area, partly covered by glaciers . It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by an isthmus wide...
and the Spitsbergen islands, as all of Svalbard was then known. But in 1613, the English Muscovy Company
Muscovy Company
The Muscovy Company , was a trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England, and became closely associated with such famous names as Henry Hudson and William Baffin...
had done the same. The primary and most profitable whaling grounds of this joint-stock company came to be centered around Spitsbergen in the early 17th Century, and the company's royal charter of 1613 granted a monopoly on whaling in Spitsbergen, based on the (erroneous) claim that Hugh Willoughby had discovered the land in 1553. Not only had they wrongly assumed a 1553 English voyage had reached the area, but on 27 June 1607, during his first voyage in search of a "northeast passage" on behalf of the company, Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
sighted "Newland" (i.e. Spitsbergen), near the mouth of the great bay Hudson later simply named the Great Indraught (Isfjorden
Isfjord (Svalbard)
Isfjorden is the second longest fjord in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. It lies on the west side of Spitsbergen, an island in the Arctic Ocean about midway between Norway and the North Pole, and the largest in the archipelago. A portion of Isfjorden is included in the national parks of...
). In this way the English hoped to head off expansion by the Dutch in the region, at the time their major rival.
Initially the English tried to drive away competitors; but after disputes with the Dutch (1613–24), they, for the most part, only claimed the bays south of Kongsfjorden
Kongsfjorden
thumb|Kongsfjorden as seen from [[Blomstrandhalvøya]]Kongsfjorden is an inlet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, an island which is part of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The inlet is long and ranges in width from 6 to 14 km...
.
Danish expansion
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
) and what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The entire Svalbard archipelago, nominally ruled first by Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
, and later the Norwegians (as Union between Sweden and Norway
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
from 1814–1905, independent Norway from 1905), remained a source of riches for fishery and whaling vessels from many nations. The islands also became the launching point for a number of Arctic explorers, including William Edward Parry
William Edward Parry
Sir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Freiherr Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld , also known as A. E. Nordenskioeld was a Finnish baron, geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer of Finnish-Swedish origin. He was a member of the prominent Finland-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists...
, Otto Martin Torell
Otto Martin Torell
Otto Martin Torell was a Swedish naturalist and geologist. He was born in Varberg, Sweden on the June 5, 1828. He was educated at Lund University for the medical profession, but became interested in zoological and geological studies, and being of independent means he devoted himself to science.He...
, Alfred Gabriel Nathorst
Alfred Gabriel Nathorst
Alfred Gabriel Nathorst was a Swedish Arctic explorer, geologist and palaeobotanist. Nathorst was born in Väderbrunn outside Nyköping and died in Stockholm.-Biography:He was born on November 7, 1850....
, Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
and Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
.
Spitsbergen Treaty
Between 1913 and 1920 Spitsbergen was a neutral condominiumCondominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
. The Spitsbergen Treaty of February 9, 1920, recognises the full and absolute sovereignty of Norway over all the arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. Originally limited to nine signatory nations, over 40 are now signatories of the treaty. Citizens of any of the signatory countries may settle in the archipelago. Currently, only Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
make use of this right.
Once named Spitsbergen for its largest island, the Svalbard was made a part of Norway—not a dependency—by the Svalbard Act of 1925. Since this date it has been a portion of Norway, with a Norwegian appointed Governor resident at the capitol of Longyearbyen, albeit with limitations on the imposition of certain Norwegian laws as outlined in the Spitsbergen Treaty.
The largest settlement on Spitsbergen is the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
, while the second largest settlement is the Russian coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
settlement of Barentsburg
Barentsburg
Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants , almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.-Status:...
(which was sold by the Netherlands in 1932 to the Soviet company Arktikugol). Other settlements on the island include the former Russian mining communities of Grumant
Grumant
Grumant was a Soviet Russian settlement in Svalbard, Norway, established in 1912 and abandoned in 1965. The population peaked at 1106 in 1951/52 . The name ‘Grumant’ is Pomor in origin, and is also use to refer to the whole of the Svalbard archipelago...
byen and Pyramiden
Pyramiden
Pyramiden is an abandoned Russian settlement and coal mining community on the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. It was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927...
(abandoned in 1961 and 1998, respectively), a Polish research station
Polish Polar Station, Hornsund
Polish Polar Station, Hornsund is at Isbjørnhamna in Hornsund fjord, on Spitsbergen island in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, operated since 1957.-Station:...
at Hornsundet, and the remote northern settlement of Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund is one of the four permanent settlements on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the Brøgger peninsula at Kongsfjorden...
.
World War II
Allied soldiers were stationed on the island in 1941 to prevent Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
from occupying the islands. While the island had officially been ceded to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in the 1920s, that country fell under German occupation
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
in 1940. The majority of inhabitants on the island were Russian (the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact
Non-aggression pact
A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states/countries agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them and resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations...
with Germany until 22 June 1941). The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sent military forces to the island to destroy installations, mainly Soviet coal mines, and prevent the Germans from occupying it.
The German battleship Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
and an escort flotilla shelled and destroyed the Allied weather station there in Operation Zitronella
Operation Zitronella
Operation Zitronella, also known as Operation Sizilien was an eight-hour German raid on Spitzbergen on 8 September 1943.-Background:...
in 1943. On 6 September, a squadron consisting of Tirpitz, the battleship Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
and nine destroyers weighed anchor in Altenfjord and Kåfjord and headed for Spitsbergen, to attack the Allied base there. At dawn on 8 September 1943 Tirpitz and Scharnhorst opened fire against the two 3-inch guns which comprised the defences of Barentsburg, and the destroyers ran inshore with landing parties. Before noon it was all over. Some prisoners had been taken, a supply dump destroyed, the wireless station wrecked and the landing parties had returned on board. The German ships returned safely to Altenfjord and Kåfjord on 9 September 1943. This was to be the last operation for the Tirpitz.
Population
The Svalbard TreatySvalbard Treaty
The Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen signed in Paris 9th February 1920, commonly called the Svalbard Treaty or the Spitsbergen Treaty...
of 1920 established full Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard. All forty signatory countries of the treaty have the right to conduct commercial activities on the archipelago without discrimination, although all activity is subject to Norwegian legislation. The treaty limits Norway's right to collect taxes to that of financing services on Svalbard. Spitsbergen is a demilitarized zone
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
, as the treaty prohibits the establishment of military installations. The treaty requires Norway to protect the natural environment. The island is administrated by the Governor of Svalbard
Governor of Svalbard
The Governor of Svalbard represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago .The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in the area, including environmental protection, law enforcement,...
, who holds the responsibility as both county governor
County Governor
County Governor is a Norwegian government agency represented in 18 of the Norwegian counties responsible for a number of supervision and management duties. The Governor is the representative of the King and Government of Norway in each county, functioning as the connection between the state and...
and chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, as well as holding other authority granted from the executive branch. Although Norway is part of the European Economic Area
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
(EEA) and the Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
, Svalbard is not part of the Schengen Area
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
nor EEA. Residents of Spitsbergen do not need visas for Schengen, but are prohibited from reaching Svalbard from mainland Norway without such. People without a means to income, can be rejected by the governor. Citizens of any treaty signatory country may visit the island without a visa. Russia retains a consulate in Barentsburg.
In 2009, Spitsbergen had a population of 2,753, of which 423 were Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
and Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, 10 were Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
and 322 were non-Norwegians living in Norwegian settlements. The largest non-Norwegian groups in Longyearbyen in 2005 were from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Spitsbergen is among the safest places on Earth, with virtually no crime.
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
is the largest settlement on the island, the seat of the governor and the only town to be incorporated. The town features a hospital, primary and secondary school, university, sports centre with a swimming pool, library, cultural centre, cinema, bus transport, hotels, a bank, and several museums. The newspaper Svalbardposten
Svalbardposten
Svalbardposten, founded in 1948, is a Norwegian weekly paper, which operates from Longyearbyen . It is the northernmost regularly published newspaper in the world. In 2003 it had 3,224 subscribers. According to its estimates it has more subscribers than there are people in Svalbard. The newspaper...
is published weekly. Only a small fraction of the mining activity remains at Longyearbyen; instead, workers commute to Sveagruva (or Svea) where Store Norske operates a mine. Sveagruva is a dorm town, with workers commuting from Longyearbyen on a weekly basis.
Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. No care or nursing services are available, nor is welfare payment available. Norwegian residents retain pension and medical rights through their mainland municipalities. The hospital is part of University Hospital of North Norway, while the airport is operated by state-owned Avinor
Avinor
Avinor AS is a state owned limited company in that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 January 2003, by the privatization of the...
. Ny-Ålesund and Barentsburg remain company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
s with all infrastructure owned by Kings Bay and Arktikugol, respectively. Other public offices with presence on Svalbard are the Norwegian Directorate of Mining
Norwegian Directorate of Mining
The Norwegian Directorate of Mining with the Commissioner of Mines at Svalbard is a Norwegian government agency responsible for administrating the extraction of mineral resources within the kingdom...
, the Norwegian Polar Institute
Norwegian Polar Institute
The Norwegian Polar Institute is Norway's national institution for polar research. It is run under the auspices of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The institute organizes expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions and runs a research station at Ny-Ålesund...
, the Norwegian Tax Administration and the Church of Norway
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...
. Svalbard is subordinate Nord-Troms District Court
Nord-Troms District Court
Nord-Troms District Court is a district court in Tromsø, Norway. It covers Troms north of Malangen, plus Svalbard, and is subordinate Hålogaland Court of Appeal, with whom it shares a courthouse. The municipalities which are under the court are Tromsø, Karlsøy, Balsfjord, Storfjord, Gáivuotna –...
and Hålogaland Court of Appeal
Hålogaland Court of Appeal
Hålogaland Court of Appeal is the court of appeal located in Tromsø, Norway. It serves the counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. In addition to Tromsø, the court may meet in Bodø and Mo i Rana. The court is administrated by the Norwegian National Courts Administration.From the Middle Ages,...
, both located in Tromsø.
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund is one of the four permanent settlements on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the Brøgger peninsula at Kongsfjorden...
is a permanent settlement based entirely around research. Formerly a mining town, it is still a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
operated by the Norwegian state-owned Kings Bay. While there is some tourism at the village, Norwegian authorities limit the access to the outpost to minimise impact on the scientific work. Ny-Ålesund has a winter population of 35 and a summer population of 180. Poland operates the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund
Hornsund
Hornsund is a fjord on the western side of the southernmost tip of Spitsbergen island.The fjord's mouth faces west to the Greenland Sea, and is 12 km wide. The length is 30 kilometres, the mean depth is 90 metres, and the maximal depth is 260 metres...
, with ten permanent residents.
Barentsburg
Barentsburg
Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants , almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.-Status:...
is the only remaining Russian settlement, after Pyramiden
Pyramiden
Pyramiden is an abandoned Russian settlement and coal mining community on the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. It was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927...
was abandoned in 1998. A company town, all facilities are owned by Arktikugol, who operate a coal mine, although operation has been halted since 2006. In addition to the mining facilities, Arktikugol has opened a hotel and souvenir shop, catering to tourists taking day trips or hikes from Longyearbyen. The village has facilities such as a school, library, sports center, community center, swimming pool, farm and greenhouse. Pyramiden has similar facilities; both are built in typical Soviet style and are the site of the world's two most northerly Lenin statues and other socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
artwork.
Economy
The three main industries on Spitsbergen are coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
. In 2007, there were 484 people working in the mining sector, 211 people working in the tourism sector and 111 people working in the education sector. The same year, mining produced a revenue of NOK 2,008 million, tourism NOK 317 million and research NOK 142 million. In 2006, the average income for economically active people was NOK 494,700—23% higher than on the mainland. Almost all housing is owned by the various employers and institutions and rented to their employees; there are only a few privately-owned houses, most of which are recreational cabins. Because of this, it is almost impossible to live on Spitsbergen without working for an established institution.
Since the resettlement of Spitsbergen in the early 20th century, coal mining has been the dominant commercial activity. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani , or simply Store Norske, is a Norwegian coal mining company based on the Svalbard archipelago. It was formed in 1916, after a Norwegian purchase of the American Arctic Coal Company ....
, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry
Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry is a Norwegian ministry responsible for business, trade and industry. It is led by Trond Giske . The department must report to the legislature, Storting.-History:The Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Shipping, Industry, Craft and Fisheries was created...
, operates Svea Nord in Sveagruva and Mine 7 in Longyearbyen. The former produced 3.4 million tonnes in 2008, while the latter sends 35% of its output to Longyearbyen Power Station. Since 2007, there has not been any significant mining by the Russian state-owned Arktikugol in Barentsburg. There has previously been some test drilling for petroleum on land, but this did not give results good enough to justify permanent operation. The Norwegian authorities do not allow offshore petroleum drilling activities for environmental reasons, and the land formerly test-drilled on has been protected as nature reserves or national parks.
Spitsbergen has historically been a base for both whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. Norway claimed a 200 NM exclusive economic zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
(EEZ) around Svalbard in 1977, Norway retains a restrictive fisheries policy in the zone, and the claims are disputed by Russia. Tourism is focused on the environment and is centered around Longyearbyen. Activities include hiking, kayaking, walks through glacier caves and snow-scooter and dog-sled safaris. Cruise ships generate a significant portion of the traffic, including stops by both offshore vessels and expeditionary cruises starting and ending in Svalbard. Traffic is strongly concentrated between March and August; overnight stays have quintupled from 1991 to 2008, when there were 93,000 guest-nights.
Research on Svalbard centers around Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, the most accessible areas in the high Arctic. Norway grants permission for any nation to conduct research on Svalbard, resulting in the Polish Polar Station, Indian Himadri Station
Himadri Station
Himadri Station is India's first Arctic research station located at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It is locatedat the International Arctic Research base, Ny-Ålesund.The station is operated by National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research....
, and the Chinese Arctic Yellow River Station
Arctic Yellow River Station
The Polar Research Institute of China established its Arctic Yellow River Station in Ny-Ålesund, on Svalbard, in 2003.Scientists at the station conducted research into the Aurora Borealis and microbes in the ice-pack, glacier monitoring, atmospheric research.-References:...
, plus Russian facilities in Barentsburg. The University Centre in Svalbard
University Centre in Svalbard
The University Centre in Svalbard is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that provides university-level education in arctic studies. The universities of Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim are represented on its board. The centre is known as...
in Longyearbyen offers undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses to 350 students in various arctic sciences, particularly biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
. Courses are provided to supplement studies at the mainland universities; there are no tuition fees and courses are held in English, with Norwegian and international students equally represented. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about from the North Pole. The facility preserves a wide variety of plant seeds in an underground cavern. The seeds are...
is a "doomsday
Doomsday event
A doomsday event is a specific, plausibly verifiable or hypothetical occurrence which has an exceptionally destructive effect on the human race...
" seedbank
Seedbank
A seedbank stores seeds as a source for planting in case seed reserves elsewhere are destroyed. It is a type of gene bank. The seeds stored may be food crops, or those of rare species to protect biodiversity. The reasons for storing seeds may be varied...
to store seeds from as many of the world's crop varieties and their botanical wild relatives as possible. A cooperation between the government of Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust
Global Crop Diversity Trust
Global Crop Diversity Trust is an independent international organization which exists to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide...
, the vault is cut into rock near Longyearbyen, keeping it at a natural −6 C and refrigerating the seeds to −18 C. The Svalbard Undersea Cable System
Svalbard Undersea Cable System
The Svalbard Undersea Cable System consists of two 1400 km long submarine communications cables from Harstad on the Norwegian mainland to Svalbard. It is operated by Telenor and officially opened 2004-02-01...
is a 1440 km (894.8 mi) fibre optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
line from Svalbard to Harstad
Harstad
is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...
, needed for communicating with polar orbit
Polar orbit
A polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of 90 degrees to the equator...
ing satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
through Svalbard Satellite Station and installations in Ny-Ålesund.
Transport
Within Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Ny-Ålesund, there are road systems, but they do not connect with each other. Off-road motorized transport is prohibited on bare ground, but snowmobiles are used extensively during winter—both for commercial and recreational activities. Transport from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg (45 km (28 mi)) and Pyramiden (100 km (62.1 mi)) is possible by snowmobile during winter, or by ship all year round. All settlements have ports and Longyearbyen has a bus system.Svalbard Airport, Longyear, located 3 kilometres (2 mi) from Longyearbyen, is the only airport offering air transport off and onto the island. Scandinavian Airlines has daily scheduled services to Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
and Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
; there are also irregular charter services to Russia. Lufttransport
Lufttransport
Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments...
provides regular corporate charter services from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund Airport and Svea Airport
Svea Airport
Svea Airport , is an airport that services the mining community of Sveagruva on the Norwegian overseas territory of Svalbard. The airport is owned, operated and used by the mining company Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani to transport personnel to Svalbard Airport, Longyear at Longyearbyen...
for Kings Bay and Store Norske; these flights are in general not available to the public. There are heliport
Heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...
s in Barentsburg and Pyramiden, and helicopters are frequently used by the governor and to a lesser extent the mining company Arktikugol.
Climate
The climate of Svalbard is dominated by its high latitude, with the average summer temperature at 4 °C (39 °F) to 6 °C (43 °F) and January averages at −12 C to −16 C. The North Atlantic CurrentNorth Atlantic Current
The North Atlantic Current is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. West of Ireland it splits in two; one branch, the Canary Current, goes south, while the other continues north along the coast of northwestern Europe...
moderates Spitsbergens's temperatures, particularly during winter, giving it up to 20 C-change higher winter temperature than similar latitudes in Russia and Canada. This keeps the surrounding waters open and navigable most of the year. The interior fjord areas and valleys, sheltered by the mountains, have less temperature differences than the coast, giving about 2 C-change lower summer temperatures and 3 C-change higher winter temperatures. On the south of Spitsbergen, the temperature is slightly higher than further north and west. During winter, the temperature difference between south and north is typically 5 C-change, while about 3 C-change in summer.
Spitsbergen is the meeting place for cold polar air from the north and mild, wet sea air from the south, creating low pressure and changing weather and fast winds, particularly in winter; in January, a strong breeze is registered 17% of the time at Isfjord Radio
Isfjord Radio
Isfjord Radio is a radio station and weather station located at Kapp Linné on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The station was established in 1933, and has played an important role in the telecommunications between the Svalbard archipelago and the outside world. The station was destroyed during World War II,...
, but only 1% of the time in July. In summer, particularly away from land, fog is common, with visibility under 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) registered 20% of the time in July. Precipitation is frequent, but falls in small quantities, typically less than 400 millimetres (15.7 in) in western Spitsbergen. More rain falls in the uninhabited east side, where there can be more than 1000 millimetres (39.4 in).
Nature
Arctic fox
The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
, the Svalbard reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
, polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s, and accidentally introduced Southern Vole
Southern Vole
The Southern Vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Iran, Svalbard , the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and Norway.-References:*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005....
, which are only found in Grumant. Attempts to introduce the Arctic Hare
Arctic Hare
The arctic hare , or polar rabbit is a species of hare which is adapted largely to polar and mountainous habitats. The arctic hare survives with a thick coat of fur and usually digs holes under the ground or snow to keep warm and sleep...
and the muskox have both failed. There are fifteen to twenty types of marine mammals, including whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s, dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s, seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
and walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
es.
Polar bears are the iconic symbol of Spitsbergen, and one of the main tourist attractions. While protected, anyone outside of settlements is required to carry a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
to kill polar bears in self-defence, as a last resort, should they attack. Spitsbergen shares a common polar bear population with the rest of Svalbard and Franz Joseph Land. The Svalbard reindeer (R. tarandus platyrhynchus) is a distinct sub-species, and while previously almost extinct, hunting is permitted for both it and the Arctic Fox. There are a limited number of domesticated animals in Russian settlements.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s, with about 20 million individuals during late summer. The most common are Little Auk
Little Auk
The Little Auk, or Dovekie , is a small auk, the only member of the genus Alle. It breeds on islands in the high Arctic. There are two subspecies: A. a. alle breeds in Greenland, Iceland, Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen, and A. a...
, Northern Fulmar
Northern Fulmar
The Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, Fulmar, or Arctic Fulmar is a highly abundant sea bird found primarily in subarctic regions of the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans. Fulmars come in one of two color morphs: a light one which is almost entirely white, and a dark one which is...
, Thick-billed Murre and Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-legged Kittiwake
The Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
. Sixteen species are on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
. Particularly Storfjorden and Nordvest-Spitsbergen are important breeding ground for seabirds. The Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
has the furthest migration, all the way to Antarctica. Only two songbirds migrate to Spitsbergen to breed: the Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
The Snow Bunting , sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is an arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere...
and the Wheatear
Wheatear
The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae...
. Rock Ptarmigan is the only bird to overwinter. Remains of Predator X
Predator X
Predator X is a comic book character, in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. The character is an adversary of Marvel's mutant characters, including the X-Men.-History:...
from the Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
period have been found; it is the largest dinosaur-era marine reptile
Marine reptile
Marine reptiles are reptiles which have become secondarily adapted for an aquatic or semi-aquatic life in a marine environment.The earliest marine reptiles arose in the Permian period during the Paleozoic era...
ever found—a pliosaur
Pliosaur
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of marine reptiles. Pliosauroids, also commonly known as pliosaurs, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosauroids were short-necked plesiosaurs with large heads and massive toothed jaws. These swimming reptiles were not dinosaurs but distant...
estimated to be almost 15 m (49.2 ft) long.
Svalbard has permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
and tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
, with both low, middle and high Arctic vegetation
Arctic vegetation
In the Arctic, the low tundra vegetation clothes a landscape of wide vistas, lit by the low-angle light characteristic of high latitudes. Much of the Arctic shows little impact from human activities, making it one of the few places on earth one can see intact ecosystems. Those who have had the...
. 165 species of plants have been found on the archipelago. Only those areas which defrost in the summer have vegetations. Vegetation is most abundant in Nordenskiöld Land
Nordenskiöld Land
Nordenskiöld Land is the land area between Isfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard.The area is named after Swedish explorer and geologist Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld....
, around Isfjorden and where effected by guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
. While there is little precipitation, giving the island a steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
climate, plants still have good access to water because the cold climate reduces evaporation. The growing season is very short, and may only last a few weeks.
There are six national parks in Spitsbergen: Indre Wijdefjorden
Indre Wijdefjorden National Park
Indre Wijdefjorden National Park is located in a steep fjord landscape in northern Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It covers the inner part of Wijdefjorden—the longest fjord on Svalbard. The national park was established on 9 September 2005 and covers , of which is on land and is sea...
, Nordenskiöld Land
Nordenskiöld Land National Park
Nordenskiöld Land National Park lies on Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. The park was opened in 2003 and otherwise consists of the isfrie Reindalen.-References:...
, Nordre Isfjorden Land, Nordvest-Spitsbergen, Sassen-Bünsow Land
Sassen-Bünsow Land National Park
Sassen – Bünsow Land National Park lies on Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. The park was opened in 2003 and includes both glaciers and several glacially carved valleys. The sealer/whaler Hilmar Nøis built the hunting station Fredheim on the north side of the Sassen river...
and Sør-Spitsbergen
Sør-Spitsbergen National Park
Sør-Spitsbergen National Park lies on south end of Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. The park was opened in 1973 and includes Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Torell Land and Sørkapp Land. Over 65% of the region is covered with glacier or permanent ice and snow.-References:...
. The island also features Festningen Geotope Protected Area
Festningen Geotope Protected Area
Festningen Geotope Protected Area is located at the outermost edge of Grønfjorden's mouth to Isfjorden on Nordenskiöld Land, Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. The profile is a cliff which runs along the coast from Kapp Starostin to Festningsodden. It covers an areas of , of which is on land and ...
; some of the northeastern coast is part of Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve is located in the north-eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The nature reserve covers all of Nordaustlandet, Kong Karls Land, Kvitøya, Sjuøyane, Storøya, Lågøya, Wilhelmøya, Wahlbergøya and a small section of the north-east corner of Spitsbergen...
. All human traces dating from before 1946 are automatically protected. Svalbard is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.