The governor of Svalbard ( no, Sysselmesteren på Svalbard) represents the Norwegian

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen). The position reports to the

Norwegian Ministry of Justice The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security ( no, Det kongelige justis- og beredskapsdepartement) is a Norwegian government ministry that oversees justice, the police, and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the ministry is to provid ...

, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in the area, including

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

, law enforcement, representation, mediation, and civil matters, such as

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

. An important part of the position is to maintain good working relations with the Russian

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

in Barentsburg. To this end, the governor's organization consists of: *a staff section with Russian interpreters and advisors on legal matters, tourism, etc. *a section for law enforcement *a section for environmental protection *an administrative section, including archiving, financial management and IT support The governor's office also has at its disposition several

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s, snowmobiles, speedboats and other equipment needed to meet its responsibilities. The office's annual budget is determined by the Norwegian

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

, and runs at about NOK 60 million, of which the largest part is used for transportation.

List of governors of Svalbard (sysselmenn)

References

External links

* Svalbard, Governor of Politics of Svalbard Svalbard Organisations based in Longyearbyen Government of the Arctic {{Svalbard-stub