Svalbard (sväl`bärd), archipelago (23,958 sq mi/62,051 sq km), island group (2005 est. pop. 2,700), possession of Norway, located in the Arctic Ocean, c.400 mi (640 km) N of the Norwegian mainland and between lat. 74°N and 81°N. The main islands of the group are Spitsbergen Spitsbergen , formerly Vestspitsbergen, largest island (15,075 sq mi/39,044 sq km) of Svalbard, a Norwegian possession in the Arctic Ocean. It rises to Newtontoppen Mt. (c.5,650 ft/1,720 m), the highest point.
..... Click the link for more information. (formerly Vestspitsbergen), Nordaustlandet, Edgeøya Edgeøya or Edge Island, island of the Svalbard group, 1,942 sq mi (5,030 sq km), Norway, in the Barents Sea, E of Spitsbergen Island. It rises to 2,349 ft (716 m). An ice field covers the southeastern portion of the island.
..... Click the link for more information. , Barentsøya Barentsøya or Barents Island , island of Svalbard, 513 sq mi (1,329 sq km), in Barents Sea between Spitsbergen and Edgeøya. The island rises to 1,302 ft (397 m).
..... Click the link for more information. , and Prins Karls Forland; surrounding islands include Hopen, Kong Karls Land Kong Karls Land or King Charles Land, island group, 128 sq mi (332 sq km), in the Barents Sea, part of the Norwegian possession of Svalbard, W of Spitsbergen. It includes Kongsøya, Svenskøya, and Abeløya islands.
..... Click the link for more information. , Kvitøya, and Bjørnøya Bjørnøya , island, 69 sq mi (179 sq km), in the Barents Sea, c.275 mi (440 km) N of Norway; southernmost island of Svalbard. It rises to 1,759 ft (536 m). There are polar fox and polar bear on the island. Probably known to Norsemen in the 12th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. (Bear Island).

Land and People

The islands form plateaus intersected by deep fjords, of which Isfjorden is the largest. Spitsbergen, the largest island, contains the highest mountain of the group (Newtontoppen, c.5,650 ft/1,720 m) and the principal settlements of Longyearbyen Longyearbyen , town and administrative center of Svalbard, on Isfjorden, Spitsbergen island. It is a coal-mining settlement, founded (1905) by an American company and named after the American miner J. M. Longyear.
..... Click the link for more information. (the administrative center), Ny-Ålesund Ny-Ålesund [New Alesund], town, on Kongsfjorden, NW Spitsbergen island, Svalbard. It is a coal-mining settlement. Ny-Ålesund was (1926) the base of polar flights by Richard Byrd, in an airplane, and by Roald Amundsen, who, with Lincoln Ellsworth and
..... Click the link for more information. , Barentsburg Barentsburg , town, Spitsbergen island, Svalbard, Norway. A coal-mining settlement, it was established (1912) by a Norwegian company. Its mines have been worked by the Dutch (1921–26) and since 1932 by the Russians. It was totally destroyed (Sept.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Grumantbyen. Spitsbergen has served as the base for many polar expeditions. Nearly 65% of the small population is Russian and 35% is Norwegian.

The warm North Atlantic Drift makes navigation possible for more than half the year along the western coasts. Ice fields and glaciers cover more than 60% of the area, but some 130 species of arctic vegetation flourish near the coast and on patches of interior tundra. Waterfowl abound, but land game has been rendered nearly extinct by hunting and is now protected, in addition to seals, walruses, and whales. The chief wealth of the islands is derived from their mineral resources, most notably coal; deposits of asbestos, copper, gypsum, iron, marble, zinc, and phosphate also exist.

History

Discovered (1194) by the Vikings, the islands were forgotten until their rediscovery (1596) by Willem Barentz Barentz or Barents, Willem , d. 1597, Dutch navigator. He made three voyages (1594, 1595, 1596–97) in search of the Northeast Passage to Asia. He reached Novaya Zemlya on the first two expeditions.
..... Click the link for more information. , the Dutch navigator. For a decade after Henry Hudson Hudson, Henry, fl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a new route was also fruitless.
..... Click the link for more information. reported (1607) good whaling there, English and Dutch whalers quarreled over the territory; in 1618 they compromised, the Dutch limiting their operations to the northern part, leaving the rest to the English, the French, and the Hanseatic League Hanseatic League , mercantile league of medieval German towns. It was amorphous in character; its origin cannot be dated exactly. Originally a Hansa was a company of merchants trading with foreign lands.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Danes at the same time claimed the islands as part of Greenland.

After the decline of whaling, the group became (18th cent.) a hunting ground for Russian and Scandinavian fur traders. In the late 19th cent., the islands were mapped by many notable explorers, and important coal deposits were discovered. For a half century after the discovery of coal, Norway, Russia, and Sweden negotiated for the islands.

By a treaty signed at Paris in 1920 and subsequently ratified by the other claimants, they were awarded to Norway which took formal possession of them in 1925. The treaty prohibited military installations on the islands and ensured recognition of claims of other countries to parts of the coal fields. In World War II, Svalbard was raided (Aug., 1941) by an Allied party that evacuated the civilian population to England and rendered the mines inoperable. A German garrison was expelled in 1942 by a small Norwegian force. In Sept., 1943, the German battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, with 10 destroyers, completed the devastation of the mines and mining installations by bombarding the islands.

In 1944 the USSR—which had not signed the 1920 treaty but which had later adhered to it—was refused a request to share with Norway in the administration and defense of Svalbard. After the war the mining settlements were rebuilt. Coal mining concessions operated by the USSR and later Russia account for about one third of the coal shipped from Svalbard.

Svalbard

Archipelago, Norway. Located in the Arctic Ocean, north of the Arctic Circle, Svalbard consists of nine main islands, the largest being Spitsbergen (formerly West Spitsbergen). The islands are mountainous, with glaciers and snowfields covering nearly 60% of the area. The islands were first visited in modern times by the Dutch in 1596. In the early 20th century many countries, including the U.S., debated ownership of mineral rights there. Officially a Norwegian possession since 1920, the islands have been the site of many scientific polar expeditions (beginning in 1773). The population changes seasonally but numbers about 3,000; there are no indigenous inhabitants. Longyearbyen is the administrative centre.

Svalbard

a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, about 650 km (400 miles) north of Norway: consists of the main group (Spitsbergen, North East Land, Edge Island, Barents Island, and Prince Charles Foreland) and a number of outlying islands; sovereignty long disputed but granted to Norway in 1920; coal mining. Administrative centre: Longyearbyen. Area: 62 050 sq. km (23 958 sq. miles)

Svalbard

a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, between 74° and 81° N lat. and 10° and 35° E long., including the Spitsbergen archipelago, Bear Island, and a number of small islands. The islands, which belong to Norway, have a total area of over 62,000 sq km. An area of 35,100 sq km is glaciated. Coal is mined on the island of Spitsbergen by Norwegian and Soviet companies. The most heavily settled area is Longyear City, the seat of government of Svalbard.

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No references found			Arctic Norway will benefit from an increased catch, but in sub-polar regions, the tropics and semi-enclosed seas, "climate change may lead to numerous local extinction," hitting developing countries most of all, the paper warned. Climate change to cause dark night of the shoal by AFP / AFP Global Edition Sarah and Jim now plan to buy a house in arctic Norway. 'I just love the wilderness and the open sky' by South Wales Echo (Cardiff, Wales) Vicky's training has so far taken her to the Brecon Beacons, Dartmoor and three weeks in Arctic Norway. Vicky's all set for cool challenge; EXPEDITION: Action girl heads off ... by Coventry Evening Telegraph (England)			ARCS arcs doubleaux Arctic arctic air Arctic Air Masses Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute arctic anticyclone Arctic Archipelago Arctic Basin Arctic Bramble Arctic Circle Arctic Circle Race Arctic Cisco arctic climate Arctic Cod arctic desert Arctic Fox arctic front arctic hare arctic haze arctic high Arctic Lemming arctic mist Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Arctic North Slope Arctic Norway Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean Flotilla Arctic Oscillation Arctic Peoples Arctic Red River Arctic Region arctic sea smoke Arctic Subregion Arctic suite Arctic tern arctic tree line arctic willow Arctic Zone Arctic, the arctic-alpine arcticization Arctiidae Arctium Arctocyonidae Arctolepiformes Arctostaphylos Arcturidae Arcturus arcuale arcuate			Arctic Learning Environment Arctic Lemming Arctic LIDAR Observatory for Middle Atmospheric Research Arctic Light Infantry Traning Arctic Logistics Information and Support Arctic Long-term Environmental Research Transects Program Arctic Marine Advisory Board Arctic Marine Animal Program Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition Arctic Mass Balance Box Model Arctic Mediterranean Sea Arctic Mediterranean Sea Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation arctic mist Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Arctic Monkeys arctic moss Arctic mouse-ear Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development Area Program Arctic North Slope Arctic Norway Arctic Nuclear Waste Assessment Program Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean Flotilla Arctic Ocean Model Intercomparison Project Arctic Ocean Radiative Fluxes Arctic Ocean Sciences Board Arctic Oil And Gas Corporation Arctic Operations Arctic oscillation Arctic oscillation Arctic Owl Arctic Owl Arctic Paleo-River Discharge Arctic penguin Arctic Peoples Arctic pole Arctic Polynya Experiment arctic poppy Arctic Precipitation Data Archive Arctic Pulse Experimental Arctic Radiation and Turbulence Interaction Study Arctic raspberry Arctic Red River Arctic Red River Arctic Redpoll Arctic region Arctic region Arctic Region Supercomputing Center

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Land and People

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Svalbard

Svalbard
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