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Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. It stretches along the foot of the
left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...
of the
Longyear Valley The Longyear Valley ( no, Longyeardalen) is a valley and ravine in Svalbard. It slightly winds WNW ending in Adventfjorden, facing west, the broadest inlet of Spitsbergen, the main landmass. It has a few wind gaps to the south and north-east o ...
and on the shore of
Adventfjorden Adventfjorden (Advent Bay) is a 7 km long and 4 km wide bay running south-eastwards from the southern side of Isfjorden, on the west coast of Spitsbergen in Svalbard. The name represents a corruption of ''Adventure Bay'' - probably name ...
, the short estuary leading into Isfjorden on the west coast of
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...
, the island's broadest inlet. As of 2002
Longyearbyen Community Council Longyearbyen Community Council ( no, Longyearbyen lokalstyre) is the local government for Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. It has many of the same responsibilities of a municipality. It is organized with a 15-member council which since 2011 has b ...
became an official Norwegian municipality. It is the seat of the
Governor of Svalbard The governor of Svalbard ( no, Sysselmesteren på Svalbard) represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen). The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maint ...
. The town's mayor is Arild Olsen. Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after American
John Munro Longyear John Munro Longyear, Sr. (April 15, 1850 – May 28, 1922) was an American businessman and noted developer of timber and mineral lands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who became the central figure behind the Arctic Coal Company, which surve ...
, whose
Arctic Coal Company Arctic Coal Company was a coal mining company that operated mines at Longyearbyen (then Longyear City) in Svalbard, Norway, between 1906 and 1916. The American industrialist John Munro Longyear visited Spitsbergen as a tourist in 1901, where he m ...
started
coal-mining Coal mining is the process of extracting 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 ...
there in 1906. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) took over the mining operations in 1916, and still conducts mining. The German ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' almost completely destroyed the town on 8 September 1943, but rebuilding took place after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Historically, Longyearbyen was a
company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
, but most mining operations moved to
Sveagruva Sveagruva (), or simply Svea, was a mining settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lying at the head of Van Mijenfjord. It was the third largest settlement in the archipelago (after Longyearbyen and Barentsburg). Around 300 workers l ...
during the 1990s, and production ceased in 2017 due to immense financial losses suffered by SNSK since 2014 due to market conditions. Meanwhile, the town has seen a large increase in
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and research. This includes the arrival of institutions such as the
University Centre in Svalbard The University Centre in Svalbard ( no, Universitetssenteret på Svalbard AS; UNIS) is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The company is wholly owned by the ...
, the
Svalbard Global Seed Vault The Svalbard Global Seed Vault ( no, Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term stora ...
and
Svalbard Satellite Station Svalbard Satellite Station ( no, Svalbard satellittstasjon) or SvalSat is a satellite ground station located on Platåberget near Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. Opened in 1997, it is operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a joint ...
. Svalbard Airport,
Svalbard Church Svalbard Church ( no, Svalbard kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Svalbard municipality in Norway. It is located in the village of Longyearbyen. It is the church for the Svalbard parish which is part of the Tromsø domprosti (a ...
and the Svalbardbutikken department store serve the community.


History

In 1896,
Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab was a Norway, Norwegian shipping company that operated ferry, ferries in Northern Norway. The ferry service was founded by Richard With on 10 November 1881 at Stokmarknes in Nordland, Norway. That same year, the ship ...
started tours to Hotellneset. To accommodate tourists, they built a prefabricated hotel, but it was not profitable and was closed after the 1897 season. However, two families overwintered in 1898–99. and
Norway Post Posten Norge () is the name of the Norwegian postal service. The company, owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications had a monopoly until 2016 on distribution of letters weighing less than 50g throughout the country. There ...
operated a post office at Hotellneset from 1897 to 1899. The first commercially viable coal on Svalbard was harvested by Søren Zakariassen in 1899. In 1901, Bergen-Spitsbergen Kullgrube-kompani started mining coal in Adventtoppen. The American industrialist John Munro Longyear visited Spitsbergen as a tourist in 1901, and met with an expedition prospecting for coal. In 1903 he returned to Spitsbergen, where he met Henrik B. Næss in Adventfjorden, who gave him samples and information on coal fields. Along with his associate
Frederick Ayer Frederick Ayer (December 8, 1822 – March 14, 1918) was an American businessman and the younger brother of patent medicine tycoon Dr. James Cook Ayer. Early life Ayer was born on December 8, 1822 in Ledyard, Connecticut and was the son of ...
, Longyear bought the Norwegian claims on the west side of Adventfjorden, and expanded the claims significantly the following year. In 1906, the
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
-based Arctic Coal Company, with Ayer and Longyear as the main shareholders, started mining in Mine 1a, after building docks and housing. The company had American administration, but mostly Norwegian labourers, and named the town Longyear City. Coal was transported the from the mine to the port using an
aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...
built by the former world leading aerial cableway company Adolf Bleichert & Co. of
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. In 1913, the company started preliminary work to open Mine 2a. Following financial difficulties during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the mining operations were bought by Store Norske, which was incorporated in Oslo on 30 November 1916. That year, SNSK built five new barracks, including one that was made into a hospital. SNSK introduced its own money with the approval of
Norges Bank Norges Bank / Noregs Bank is the central bank of Norway. The bank shall promote economic stability in Norway. Norges Bank also manages the Government Pension Fund of Norway and the bank’s own foreign exchange reserves. History The history of ...
, consisting entirely of
banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...
s at par with
Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 '' ...
. The American community buried their dead at Hotellneset. In 1918, eleven people were killed by the
Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
and a graveyard was established in Longyear City. Two years later, 26 men were killed in a
coal dust Coal dust is a fine powdered form of which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal. It is a form o ...
explosion in Mine 1. This resulted in the mine being closed and electric operation being taken into use in Mine 2. The same year, the first truck was delivered for use in the mining operations. The
Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...
appointed Thorleif Østenstad as Svalbard's first vicar and teacher in 1920.A school was established as a cooperation between the church and SNSK and had an inaugural eight pupils.The first church in Svalbard opened on 28 August 1921, and the church's reading room was from then on used as a school. Longyear City was renamed Longyearbyen in 1926. The Norwegian Telecommunications Administration established a
coast radio station A coast (or coastal) radio station (short: coast station) is an on-shore maritime radio station which may monitor radio distress frequencies and relays ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communications. A coast station (also: '' coast radio station ...
, Svalbard Radio, at
Finneset Finneset is a peninsula located on the east side of Grønfjorden on Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is located south of Barentsburg. A whaling station was located there until 1905. From 1911 it became the site of the first two-way radio, wire ...
in 1911, which was moved to Longyearbyen in 1930. The town's tourist industry started in 1935, when SS ''Lyngen'' started calling regularly during the summer season. In 1937, SNSK established Sverdrupbyen to house workers for Mine 1b, and operation of the mine started in 1939. In 1938, Longyearbyen's first road was completed, between the town centre and Sverdrupbyen. Operations at Mine 2b, a different entrance to Mine 2a, started in 1939. Svalbard remained unaffected by the
German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...
in 1940. However, from 1941 the archipelago became of strategic importance in the supply chain between the Allied powers, as well as a source of badly needed coal. The Norwegian government-in-exile rejected a Soviet–British occupation; instead the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
started Operation Gauntlet to evacuate Spitsbergen. On 29 August 1941, the entire population of Ny-Ålesund was evacuated to Longyearbyen, and on 3 September 765 people were evacuated from Longyearbyen to Scotland. Later the last 150 men were also evacuated. With Longyearbyen depopulated, a small German
garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
and air strip were established in
Adventdalen Adventdalen ( en, Advent Valley)Kruse, Frigga. 2013. ''Frozen Assets: British Mining, Exploration, and Geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 1904–53''. Groningen: University of Groningen, p. 207. is a valley that is the broader term for Adventdalselva (' ...
, mostly to provide
meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
data. After the British
Operation Fritham Operation Fritham (30 April – 14 May 1942) was an Allied military operation during the Second World War to secure the coal mines on Spitsbergen, the main island of the Svalbard Archipelago, from the North Pole and about the same distance fr ...
regained control of
Barentsburg Barentsburg (russian: Баренцбург) is the second-largest settlement in Svalbard, Norway, with about 455 inhabitants (). A coal mining town, the settlement is almost entirely made up of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. History Rijpsburg ...
, the German forces left Longyearbyen without combat. In September 1943, the ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' dispatched two battleships, ''Tirpitz'' and ''Scharnhorst'', and nine destroyers to bombard Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and
Grumant Grumant (russian: Грумант) is a former Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist stat ...
. Only four buildings in Longyearbyen survived: the hospital, the power station, an office building, and a residential building. Longyearbyen remained unsettled until the end of the war, with the first ship from the mainland leaving on 27 June 1945.


Post-Second World War

Plans were laid during the war to ensure a quick reconstruction and restarting of mining. By 1948, coal production had reached the pre-war level of per year. Nybyen was established in 1946 and consisted of five barracks, each housing 72 people. The first issue of '' Svalbardposten'' was published in November 1948. Until then, various
wall newspaper A wall newspaper or placard newspaper is a hand-lettered or printed newspaper designed to be displayed and read in public places both indoors and outdoors, utilizing vertical surfaces such as walls, boards, and fences. The practice dates back to ...
s had been published irregularly. In 1949, Longyearbyen received a telephone connection with the mainland via a radio connection between Svalbard Radio and
Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...
. In 1949, a farm was built in Longyearbyen to hold cattle (for milk), pigs, and hens. A local radio station started broadcasting in 1950. The burial ground remained in use until 1950, with 44 people buried. However, it was discovered that the bodies were failing to
decompose Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ...
because of the
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
, and that they could be preserving various
microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...
s. Bodies have since been sent to the mainland for burial. The community centre Huset opened in 1951. Mining in Mine 1b was terminated in 1958, but operation in Mine 5 started the following year. Preliminary work on Mine 4 started in 1954, and from 1960 it was used as a reserve mine. The
Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
started serving Longyearbyen with postal flights in the 1950s. In 1959, a man fell seriously ill, so a landing strip was prepared in Adventdalen. From the same year,
Braathens SAFE Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, was a Norwegian airline which operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 2004 to become SAS Braathens. F ...
started serving the tundra airport with irregular winter flights. In 1957, a principal was hired at the primary school and a new church was opened on 24 August 1958. From 1961, the primary school was supplemented by a private
middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
. A branch of
Tromsø Sparebank Tromsø Sparebank was a savings bank based in Tromsø, Norway. It was established in 1836 and merged with Sparebanken Nord in 1989 to form Sparebanken Nord-Norge. The bank established a branch in Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ ...
opened in 1959. In the 1960s, the town's farm was closed and replaced by industrial liquefaction of
powdered milk Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...
. The first serial-produced
snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...
was taken into use in 1961. By 1969, there were 140 registered snowmobiles and only 33 registered cars. From 1962 to 1984, a recreational centre was run at Sverdrupbyen. Ordinary operation in Mine 4 started in 1966 but was terminated by 1970, two years after Mine 2b closed. Operations in Mine 6 commenced in 1969.
Television broadcasting A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid-1 ...
equipment was installed in 1969, with the schedule of the
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
being aired with a two-week delay. In 1971, a new school building, with a combined primary and lower secondary school, was opened, along with a new gymnasium and a swimming pool. The Svalbard Council was established on 1 November 1971. It consisted of 17 non-partisan members who were elected or appointed in three different groups: SNSK employees, government employees and others, although the ratio changed several times. Operations of Mine 3 started in March 1971 and operations in Mine 7 commenced the following year. In 1973, the
Ministry of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
bought a third of SNSK. It continued buying additional shares until it reached a 99.94 percent ownership in 1976. The airport was opened in 1975 and initially provided four weekly services to mainland Norway and semi-weekly services to Russia. In 1978, the community received
satellite communications A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
with the mainland. The same year, an upper secondary program was introduced at the public school. From 1984, television programmes were broadcast live via satellite. Store Norske underwent a gradual change during the 1980s. Since 1980, Spitsbergen money has been taken out of circulation and replaced with ordinary Norwegian currency. Mine 6 closed the following year. From 1982, SNSK permitted private individuals to own and operate cars. By 1990, there were 353 registered cars and 883 snowscooters. On 1 July 1983, SNSK moved its head office from
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
to Longyearbyen. Svalbard Samfunnsdrift (SSD), a limited company that was responsible for public infrastructure and services, was established by SNSK on 1 January 1989. Responsibilities included healthcare, the fire brigade, the kindergarten, roads, rubbish disposal, power production, the water and sewer system, the cinema, cultural activities and the library. Ownership was taken over by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 1 January 1993. During the 1990s, the authorities started a process to "normalise" Longyearbyen by abolishing the company town scheme and introducing a full range of services, a varied economy and local democracy. Commercial enterprises included a shopping mall replacing SNSK's provision store in 1992. Similarly,
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
opened a commercial fuel station in 1994. The Svalbard Council changed its regulations from 1993 and allowed parties to run for election. In a step to increase tourism, Svalbard Polar Hotel opened in 1995, and a year later mining of Mine 3 terminated. Longyearbyen Community Council was established in 2002, replacing the Svalbard Council and assimilating SSD, and took on many of the responsibilities and the structure of a municipality. This period also saw the rise of a number of scientific establishments. The
Agricultural University of Norway The Norwegian University of Life Sciences ( no, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located at Ås in Viken, near Oslo, and at Adamstuen in Oslo and has around 5,200 stude ...
had established a primitive seed bank in 1984. The
University Centre in Svalbard The University Centre in Svalbard ( no, Universitetssenteret på Svalbard AS; UNIS) is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The company is wholly owned by the ...
opened on 6 September 1993 and had 30 students in its inaugural semester. Telenor Mobil established
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
coverage in 1995, and in 2004 the
Svalbard Undersea Cable System The Svalbard Undersea Cable System is a twin submarine communications cable which connects Svalbard to the mainland of Norway. The two optical fiber cable consist of two segments, from Harstad to Breivika in Andøy, and from Breivika to Hotellne ...
opened, providing
fiber optic cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...
connection to the mainland. The
European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) operates three incoherent scatter radar systems in Northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. The facilities are used to study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth as revealed by distu ...
(EISCAT) opened a radar in 1996, followed by Svalbard Satellite Station in 1999 and the
Svalbard Global Seed Vault The Svalbard Global Seed Vault ( no, Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term stora ...
in 2008.


Geography

Longyearbyen is in the lower portion of the
Longyear Valley The Longyear Valley ( no, Longyeardalen) is a valley and ravine in Svalbard. It slightly winds WNW ending in Adventfjorden, facing west, the broadest inlet of Spitsbergen, the main landmass. It has a few wind gaps to the south and north-east o ...
, along the
Longyear River The Longyear River ( no, Longyearelva) is a river which runs through the Longyear Valley, passing through the town of Longyearbyen and draining into Adventfjorden on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway Norway, officially the ...
. The lower parts of the town lie along the southwestern shore of the bay of
Adventfjorden Adventfjorden (Advent Bay) is a 7 km long and 4 km wide bay running south-eastwards from the southern side of Isfjorden, on the west coast of Spitsbergen in Svalbard. The name represents a corruption of ''Adventure Bay'' - probably name ...
, a branch of Isfjorden. Longyearbyen is on the
Nordenskiöld Land Nordenskiöld Land is the land area between Isfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The area is named after Finnish-Swedish explorer and geologist Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. The coastal region of Nordenskiöld Land (Norde ...
peninsula of
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...
, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Across the bay lie the
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
s of Advent City and
Hiorthhamn Hiorthhamn is an abandoned settlement located on the east side of Adventfjorden on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It served as a coal mining camp from 1917 to 1921 operated by De Norske Kullfelter Spitsbergen. The settlement w ...
. It is the world's second northernmost town, with all settlements further north (excluding
Ny-Ålesund Ny-Ålesund ("New Ålesund") is a small town in Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula ( Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of Kongsfjorden. The company town is owned and ...
) being research or meteorological outposts. The northernmost permanent settlement in the world is Alert, Canada, in the
Qikiqtaaluk Region The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ) or Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name f ...
of Nunavut, while the true northernmost settlement in the world is Camp Barneo in April. Longyearbyen is divided into several neighbourhoods. On the west side of the river, along the bay, lies the port and affiliated utility and industrial services. The western part of this area is called Bykaia and the eastern part Sjøområdet. Above lies Skjæringa, the site of the Governor's offices. Slightly up the valley on the west side lies Gamle Longyearbyen ("Old Longyearbyen") and the church. Even further up lies the graveyard, then Huset and the cinema, and finally Sverdrupbyen. Most of the residential, commercial and cultural institutions are on the east side of the river. Along the bay the area is called Sjøskrenten. Further up lies the university centre and Gruvedalen, the largest residential area. Southwards from there is the main shopping area as well as the town hall. To the east is the residential area Lia and further up Haugen, which is also the location of the school. Furthest up in the valley is Mine 2b and Nybyen, which is mostly used as student housing. Westwards out of town towards Hotellneset is the airport and Mine 3. The remaining mines are in Adventdalen, to the east of town.


Climate

Svalbard's climate is a polar
tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ET) tempered by the
North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. The NAC originates from wher ...
. The west coast of Svalbard is the warmest and wettest part of the archipelago (except for Bear Island). This is caused by the convergence of mild and humid air from the south and cold air from the north. Longyearbyen generally has lower
humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...
than other settlements within the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
. Longyearbyen experiences
midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, t ...
from between 18 April and 23 August (127 days),
polar night The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnig ...
from 27 October to 15 February (111 days) and civil polar night from 13 November to 29 January. However, due to shading from mountains, the sun is not visible in Longyearbyen until around 8 March. Snow typically covers the town from November to March. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Longyearbyen was in July 2020 and the coldest was in March 1986. Svalbard and Longyearbyen are among the places in the world that have warmed fastest in the latest decades. The 1991–2020 averages show that mean annual temperature in Longyearbyen has increased by since 1961–1990. With the sea surface temperatures warming, ice formation takes longer in the surrounding waters and thus especially early winter under the polar night warms the fastest due to the shorter ice season. , Longyearbyen is the fastest-warming town in the world. Since 1971, temperatures on Svalbard have risen five times faster than the global average, by roughly four degrees Celsius. Winters now are more than seven degrees C warmer than they were in the 1970s. In 2020, Svalbard recorded its hottest ever temperature, , following 111 months of above-average heat. According to the
Norwegian Meteorological Institute The Norwegian Meteorological Institute ( no, Meteorologisk institutt), also known internationally as MET Norway, is Norway's national meteorological institute. It provides weather forecasts for civilian and military uses and conducts research in ...
, annual precipitation on Svalbard has increased by 30 to 45 percent over the past 50 years, mostly in the form of winter rain. Since 2009, deep permafrost temperatures have increased at rates between 0.06 and 0.15-degree C per year. Although Alert, Canada probably has a lower
UV index The ultraviolet index, or UV index, is an international standard measurement of the strength of the sunburn-producing ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a particular place and time. It is primarily used in daily and hourly forecasts aimed at the general ...
, Longyearbyen has the lowest known ultraviolet rate for an inhabited place on Earth, ranging from 2 in summer to 0 from October to March, averaging 1 over 12 months.


Demographics

, Longyearbyen had a population of 2,368 people. The largest regional group of Norwegians are from
Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...
, particularly
Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
and
Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...
, who make up more than 40 percent of the population. Roughly 300 people (16 percent) are non-Norwegian citizens, with the largest nationalities being from Thailand, Sweden, Russia and Ukraine. Because of the dominance of the mining industry, the gender distribution is skewed, with 60 percent of adults being males. Longyearbyen has an over-average share of its population between 25 and 44 years old, but nearly no residents over 66. The number of children in relation to the population is at the national average, but Longyearbyen has significantly fewer teenagers than the national average. As of 2014, Thai people, numbering 120, were the second largest group of residents after Norwegians; there were 60 in 2006. Thais first came to Svalbard when men brought their wives from Thailand during the 1970s. In 2006, most of the Thai residents worked as cleaners, and as of 2011 most stay for terms of two to three years to save funds. In 2007, 10 students at the
Longyearbyen School Longyearbyen School ( no, Longyearbyen skole) is a combined primary and secondary school located in and serving Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. The school has about 270 pupils and 45 teachers. It is the northernmost school in the world. History ...
were Thai. The Thai community is active in numerous cultural events annually and motivated the establishment of a Thai supermarket. Longyearbyen experiences a very high turnover; in 2008, 427 people (23 percent) moved away from the town. The average person lived in Longyearbyen for 6.3 years, although it is 6.6 years for Norwegians and 4.3 years for foreigners. In 2009, about a quarter of the population had lived in the town since before 2000, and can thus be regarded as its permanent population. The longest-residing people tend to work in the mining industry, followed by local government employees. The shortest tenures are held by students and employees in higher education, tourism and the state. The turnover has created what the Norwegian government calls a "revolving door society". Most young newcomers leave within seven years, a turnover rate far greater than in any municipality on the mainland. Seventy percent of households consist of a single person, compared to forty-one percent on the mainland, giving an average 1.6 people per household. The difference is largely caused by persons working on Svalbard while their family remains on the mainland. Longyearbyen's population is more highly educated than the national average: 54 percent compared to 43 percent have upper secondary education and 30 percent compared to 26 percent have tertiary education. Among women, 40 percent have higher education.


Politics and government

Longyearbyen Community Council Longyearbyen Community Council ( no, Longyearbyen lokalstyre) is the local government for Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. It has many of the same responsibilities of a municipality. It is organized with a 15-member council which since 2011 has b ...
has many of the same responsibilities as a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
. It is organised with a 15-member council that since 2015 has been led by Mayor Arild Olsen of the Labour Party. The council's main responsibilities are infrastructure and utilities, including power, land-use and community planning, education from kindergarten to upper secondary level and child welfare. It operates three kindergartens in addition to the 13-grade
Longyearbyen School Longyearbyen School ( no, Longyearbyen skole) is a combined primary and secondary school located in and serving Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. The school has about 270 pupils and 45 teachers. It is the northernmost school in the world. History ...
. No care or nursing services and welfare payments are available. Norwegian residents retain pension and medical rights through their mainland municipalities. The
University Hospital of North Norway The University Hospital of North Norway ( no, Universitetssykehuset Nord-Norge) or UNN is a hospital and health trust. UNN is a university hospital for the region which includes the counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. It is part of the ...
operates a clinic,
Longyearbyen Hospital Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlements, northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches alon ...
. Other public offices with a presence on Longyearbyen are the Norwegian Directorate of Mining, the
Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; no, Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Min ...
, the
Norwegian Tax Administration The Norwegian Tax Administration ( no, Skatteetaten) is a government agency responsible for resident registration (''National Population Register'') and tax collection in Norway. The agency is subordinate to the Ministry of Finance and is based at ...
and the
Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...
. Longyearbyen is subordinate to
Nord-Troms District Court Nord-Troms District Court ( no, Nord-Troms tingrett) was a district court located in the city of Tromsø in Troms county, Norway. The court served the part of the county located north of the Malangen fjord, plus the territory of Svalbard. This ...
and
Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal ( no, Hålogaland lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as ...
, both in
Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...
. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 established full Norwegian
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
over the archipelago. The treaty came into effect in 1925, following the ''
Svalbard Act The ''Svalbard Act'' of 17 July 1925 no. 11, normally referred to as the ''Svalbard Act'' ( no, Lov om Svalbard or colloquially ), is a law of Norway which governs the major aspects of the Svalbard archipelago. The law was passed by the Parliamen ...
'' that established the institution of the
Governor of Svalbard The governor of Svalbard ( no, Sysselmesteren på Svalbard) represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen). The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maint ...
. The governor holds responsibility as both county governor and
chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...
, as well as holding other authority granted from the executive branch. Duties include
environmental policy Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...
,
family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...
,
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
,
search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
, tourism management, information services, contact with foreign settlements and judge in some areas of maritime inquiries and judicial examinations—albeit never in the same cases as acting as police. Kjerstin Askholt has been governor since 2015; she is assisted by a staff of 26 professionals. The institution is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and the Police, but reports to other ministries in matters within their portfolio. Because of the special treaty status of Svalbard, Longyearbyen is subject to Norwegian legislation, but citizens of any signatory country may conduct commercial activities and live in town. However, people without a source of income can be rejected by the governor. The treaty limits Norway's right to collect taxes to that of financing services on Svalbard. Therefore, Longyearbyen has a lower
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
than mainland Norway, and there is no
value added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end ...
. The treaty has resulted in Longyearbyen being a
demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
and it is not part of the
European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...
nor of the
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
like the rest of Norway.


Unique laws

Because of the town's remoteness, there are laws that are found in few, if any, other places in the world. Notable examples of such laws include a ban on cats, a restriction on how much alcohol an individual can purchase on a monthly basis, and a requirement that any individuals venturing outside carry a rifle for protection against polar bears. While it is popularly claimed that it is illegal to die in Longyearbyen, the wording of this claim is misleading. While it is not actually illegal to die in the town, there are no options for burial of bodies there (ashes can be buried with permission from the government) and residents considered terminally ill are typically required to move to the mainland. The decision to disallow burials came in 1950, when it was discovered that the bodies of residents who had died as a result of the
1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
had not begun to decompose. Today, scientists fear that the corpses, having been preserved by the
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
in which they were buried, may still contain live strains of that same virus that killed five percent of the world's population in the 20th century.


Culture

The community council runs a number of cultural activities, such as a cinema, a youth club, a library and a gallery. The town's sports club is Svalbard Turn. Svalbardhallen is an indoor sport centre that includes a multi-sport hall large enough for
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
or three
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
courts, a shooting range, a climbing wall and a swimming pool.
Svalbard Church Svalbard Church ( no, Svalbard kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Svalbard municipality in Norway. It is located in the village of Longyearbyen. It is the church for the Svalbard parish which is part of the Tromsø domprosti (a ...
of the Church of Norway has the entire archipelago as its parish. The congregational hall is while the sitting room is . The church is built in
half-timber Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
. '' Svalbardposten'' is a weekly newspaper published on Friday. Printing takes place in Tromsø and the majority of subscribers live on the mainland. ''Icepeople'', an alternative newspaper in English, is also published weekly. There are two museums in town, Svalbard Museum and the
Spitsbergen Airship Museum The Spitsbergen Airship Museum (''Luftskipsmuseet på Spitsbergen'') is a museum located on the island of Spitsbergen in Longyearbyen, the capital of the Arctic Ocean archipelago Svalbard. It has been formally renamed as the North Pole Expedition ...
. Solfestuka ("Sun Festival Week") takes place each year during the week surrounding 8 March, the date sunlight is first visible in most of the town after the polar night that began the previous October (the first official sunrise is usually 16 February, but most of the town is still in shadow due to the surrounding mountains).
Dark Season Blues Dark Season Blues is an annual blues music festival in late October, at 78 degrees north in Longyearbyen (Svalbard) in Norway, and marks the beginning of the dark season when daylight and the sun is about to leave Svalbard for four winter months. ...
has been held annually in October since 2003. Polarjazz has been held in late January/early February since 1998. Twenty residents of the town are members of th
Liverbirds Svalbard
and regularly meet in th
Svalbar
on match days during the winter months.
Arctic Film Festival Arctic Film Festival is an annual film festival held in September in the Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard's town, Longyearbyen. The festival is organized by HF Productions, and is a United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) initiat ...
is a film festival which held annually in the city's screening venue, Kulturhuset. Longyearbyen is served by Arctic Outpost AM radio 1270.


Economy

Coal production peaked in 2007 at 4.1 million tonnes, and reduced to 1.1 million tonnes in 2015. The only mining still taking place in Longyearbyen is at Mine 7, up Adventdalen. In 2012 it produced of coal annually, of which is used to fuel Longyear Power Station, Norway's
only Only may refer to: Music Albums * ''Only'' (album), by Tommy Emmanuel, 2000 * ''The Only'', an EP by Dua Lipa, 2017 Songs * "Only" (Anthrax song), 1993 * "Only" (Nine Inch Nails song), 2005 * "Only" (Nicki Minaj song), 2014 * "The Only", by ...
coal-fueled power station. The power station was scheduled for a NOK 60 million maintenance work, and the local authorities decided a NOK 40 million upgrade of the diesel power plant instead. Most of Store Norske's production was done at
Sveagruva Sveagruva (), or simply Svea, was a mining settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lying at the head of Van Mijenfjord. It was the third largest settlement in the archipelago (after Longyearbyen and Barentsburg). Around 300 workers l ...
, on
Van Mijenfjorden Van Mijenfjorden is the third-longest fjord in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. It lies in the southern portion of Spitsbergen island, south of Nordenskiöld Land and north of Nathorst Land. The fjord is long, being separated from Bellsund further ...
, south of Longyearbyen. No roads connect the communities; instead, workers lived in dormitories in Svea until it closed in 2017. Seventy percent commute home to the mainland while thirty percent commute to Longyearbyen. Mining has not been profitable and Store Norske relies on state subsidies to retain production. Svalbard fisheries have witnessed an unforeseen consequence of global warming:
Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...
, and
snow crab ''Chionoecetes'' is a genus of crabs that live in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The genus ''Chionoecetes'' currently contains seven distinct species. Other names for crabs in this genus include "queen crab" (in Canada) and "spider ...
s, fleeing warmer waters to the south, are heading north to Svalbard, swelling the local catch. In the decade of the 2020s, Norway values its Svalbard fishing trade at about US$94 million annually. The
University Centre in Svalbard The University Centre in Svalbard ( no, Universitetssenteret på Svalbard AS; UNIS) is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The company is wholly owned by the ...
(UNIS) has 350 students and a permanent faculty of 40 professors and assistants and 120 guest lecturers. UNIS does not offer degrees, but instead offers semester courses in biology, physics and geology. Student housing is at Nybyen. The college is part of the Svalbard Science Centre, which also features the Norwegian Polar Institute, EISCAT and Svalbard Science Forum. In 2006, about 9,000 research days were spent in Longyearbyen, most of which were by Norwegians. This made Longyearbyen the second-largest research outpost on Svalbard, marginally below Ny-Ålesund. In contrast, Longyearbyen has almost only Norwegian research, while Ny-Ålesund is roughly evenly split between Norwegian and foreign.
Svalbard Satellite Station Svalbard Satellite Station ( no, Svalbard satellittstasjon) or SvalSat is a satellite ground station located on Platåberget near Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. Opened in 1997, it is operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a joint ...
was built because of Longyearbyen's excellent location to download data from satellites in
polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...
. At Platåberget above Hotellneset, it was built as a cooperation between
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and the
Norwegian Space Centre The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) (formerly the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC); Norwegian'':'' ''Norsk Romsenter'') is a Norwegian government agency that follows up Norway's public space activities. NOSA's goal is to ensure that Norway benefits ...
, but has since 2001 been operated by
Kongsberg Satellite Services Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) is a Norwegian-based company. KSAT has the most extensive ground station network globally, and the world's largest ground station for support of polar orbiting satellites located at 78° North - Svalbard, ...
. EISCAT operates an
incoherent scatter Incoherent scattering is a type of scattering phenomenon in physics. The term is most commonly used when referring to the scattering of an electromagnetic wave (usually light or radio frequency) by random fluctuations in a gas of particles (most o ...
radar to study the northern lights. The
Svalbard Global Seed Vault The Svalbard Global Seed Vault ( no, Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term stora ...
, administered by the
Global Crop Diversity Trust The Crop Trust, officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international nonprofit organization with a secretariat in Bonn, Germany. Its mission is to conserve and make available the world's crop diversity for food security. Establ ...
, is a secure underground facility capable of storing millions of crop seeds. The facility has been designed to protect against natural and human disasters, including global warming, floods and fires and
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
. The site was chosen for a number of factors including its remoteness, sound geology and the ambient temperature of the permafrost. Longyearbyen is the centre of tourism on the archipelago, although most tourism is generated based on natural experiences rather than visiting the town itself. However, Longyearbyen does provide supplies (including Svalbardbutikken, the area's only grocery store), accommodation and several museums. In 2008, Longyearbyen experienced 89,000 guest-nights, up from 30,000 in 1995. The average guest stayed 2.2 nights and 60 percent of the capacity was used by tourists. About 40,000 tourists flew into Longyearbyen. Two-thirds of the tourists come from Norway. In 2007, the tourism industry had a revenue of NOK 291 million and produced 200-man-years. The Svalbard society received NOK 380 million in public funding in 2008, which increased to 650 million in 2015.


Education

Longyearbyen School Longyearbyen School ( no, Longyearbyen skole) is a combined primary and secondary school located in and serving Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. The school has about 270 pupils and 45 teachers. It is the northernmost school in the world. History ...
serves ages 6–18. It is the primary and secondary school in the northernmost town on earth. Once pupils reach ages 16 or 17 many families move to mainland Norway. There is a non-degree-offering tertiary educational institution in Longyearbyen,
University Centre in Svalbard The University Centre in Svalbard ( no, Universitetssenteret på Svalbard AS; UNIS) is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The company is wholly owned by the ...
(UNIS), co-located with the
Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; no, Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Min ...
,
Svalbard Museum The Svalbard Museum is a museum in Longyearbyen, the largest town in the Svalbard archipelago. The museum displays artifacts from the history of Svalbard since its settlement, and exhibits of local plants and animals. Its exhibitions describe th ...
, Svalbard Science Forum. The Czech Arctic Research Station is also based in Longyearbyen and provides facilities for researchers and students not only from the Czech Republic but from all over the world.


Transport

Longyearbyen has a road network stretching , but the network does not extend to any other communities. In 2008 there were 1,481 registered road vehicles and 49 percent of all households had a car. Cars are registered with ZN registration plates. There is a single dealer who sells Toyotas, Svalbard Auto, which is also one of two businesses providing repairs.
Snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...
s are a popular mode of transport, and there are more snowmobiles than residents. In 2008, there were registered 2,672 snowmobiles, and 69 percent of households owned at least one.
Off-road Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...
motorised transport is prohibited on bare ground, but snowmobiles are used extensively during winter—both for commercial and recreational activities. Transport from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg () and
Pyramiden Pyramiden (; rus, Пирами́да, r=Piramída, p=pʲɪrɐˈmʲidə; literally 'The Pyramid') is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which has become a tourist destination. Founded by Sweden in ...
() is possible by snowmobile in winter, or by ship year round.
Svalbard Airport, Longyear Svalbard Airport ( no, Svalbard lufthavn; ) is the main airport serving Svalbard in Norway. It is northwest of Longyearbyen on the west coast, and is the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled public flights. The first airport near Lo ...
is at Hotellneset, northwest of town. It has a long runway and is the only airport that is permitted to serve aircraft from the archipelago.
Scandinavian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
operates daily flights to
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
and
Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...
, and there are irregular flights to Russia.
Lufttransport Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian ...
operates regular charter services to Svea Airport and
Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben ( no, Ny-Ålesund flyplass, Hamnerabben; ) is an airport serving the research community of Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway. The airport is owned by Kings Bay, who also owns the company town. The only flights av ...
. Arktikugol operates helicopters to Barentsburg and
Pyramiden Pyramiden (; rus, Пирами́да, r=Piramída, p=pʲɪrɐˈmʲidə; literally 'The Pyramid') is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which has become a tourist destination. Founded by Sweden in ...
. There are two quays in Longyearbyen, one for the export of coal and one for general goods.
Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority The Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA) ( no, Statens kartverk or Kartverket) is Norway's national mapping agency, dealing with land surveying, geodesy, hydrographic surveying, cadastre and cartography. The current director is Johnny Welle. Its ...
(1990): 232
From 1907 to 1987, the mining companies operated a network of
aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...
s to transport coal from the mines to the port. In the years 1907–1908 the then worldwide leading German wire ropeways company, Adolf Bleichert & Co. from Lipsia, built a material cableway from mine 1 to the ship's loading station, which was later supplemented by a cableway to mine 2. The remains of these wire ropeways and later successors to other mines are still visible today.


Gallery

File:Beware of the teens.jpg, Road sign: Beware of snowmobiles File:Svalbard Airport, Longyear 1.jpg, Svalbard Airport, Longyearbyen File:Longyearbyen 008.jpg, Outskirts of Longyearbyen File:Harbour Longyearbyen - panoramio.jpg, Longyearbyen Harbour (''Port Longyear'') File:Longyearbyen Hjorthfjellet IMG 2604.jpg, Longyearbyen city centre, with Hjortfjellet in background File:Children crossing - panoramio.jpg, Longyearbyen during polar night File:Longyearbyen Blick vom Plateau Mountain auf Longyearbyen 03.jpg, Rows of multicolored homes, Longyearbyen File:Longyearbyen IMG 8731.JPG, From the centre of Longyearbyen File:Longyearbyen Blick vom Plateau Mountain auf Longyearbyen 10.jpg, Parts of inner town, seen from Plateau Mountain File:Aurora over Svalbard.jpg, Aurora borealis, Longyearbyen File:Sjöomraadet Longyearbyen IMG 3310 rk 136723.JPG, Sjøområdet harbour area of Longyearbyen File:Adventfjorden IMG 3300 Sider King of Napoli.JPG, Bulk Carrier ''Sider King'' at Adventfjorden File:Longyearbyen unterwegs in Longyearbyen 12.jpg, Nybyen near Longyearbyen File:Longyearbyen-city-buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Longyearbyen city - buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Longyearbyen houses - buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Santa Claus Longyearbyen - buiobuione.jpg, Mailbox in "the town of Santa Claus" File:Citt%C3%A0_di_Longyearbyen_Svalbard_Norvegia_-_buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Houses_of_Longyearbyen_Community_Council_buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Longyearbyen Community Council Svalbard buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Panorama of Longyearbyen Community Councilfrom the beach buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Ocean_Hope_buiobuione.jpg, Art installation by Norwegian Solveig Egeland File:Longyearbyen_area_industriale_-_buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen File:Longyearbyen Community Council buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town File:Longyearbyen_house_-_buiobuione.jpg, Longyearbyen town


See also

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List of northernmost settlements The most northern settlements on Earth are communities close to the North Pole, ranging from about 70° N to about 89° N. This is a list showing all of the northernmost settlements on Earth, which are all south of latitude 90° N. There are no ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Longyearbyen Community Council
{{authority control 1906 establishments in Norway Company towns in Norway Mining in Norway Populated places established in 1906 Populated places in Svalbard Port cities and towns in Norway