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What country does Svalbard belong to?
Norway
Svalbard, (Old Norse: “Cold Coast”) archipelago, part of Norway, located in the Arctic Ocean well north of the Arctic Circle. The islands lie between longitude 10° and 35° E and latitude 74° and 81° N, about 580 miles (930 km) north of Tromsø, Norway.
Is Svalbard a part of Norway?
Svalbard is a Norwegian group of islands located in the Arctic Ocean north of continental Norway, about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) from the North Pole. It is the northernmost year-round settlement on Earth, with a population of about 2,200.
Do people speak English in Svalbard?
The official language is Norwegian. However, nearly everyone speaks English. In Barentsburg Russian and Ukrainian are spoken.
What country does Svalbard and Jan Mayen belong to?
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean under the sovereignty of Norway, but is subject to the special status granted by the Svalbard Treaty. Jan Mayen is a remote island in the Arctic Ocean; it has no permanent population and is administrated by the County Governor of Nordland.
Has anyone been born on Svalbard?
You cannot give birth on Svalbard. However, there are plenty of children living in Longyearbyen!
Does Svalbard have Internet?
Svalbard is among the first places in Norway with a functioning 5G mobile network. The cables made it possible to reach average internet connections of 50 megabits per second in and around Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s main settlement.
What currency is used in Svalbard?
Norwegian Krone
The local currency in Svalbard is the ‘Norwegian Krone’ (kr). One Norwegian Krone is divided into 100 øre. Notes are in denominations of 50 kr, 100 kr, 200 kr, 500 kr and 1000 kr. Coins are in denominations of 50 øre, 1 kr, 5 kr, 10 kr and 20 kr.
Who lives on Svalbard?
Although Svalbard belongs to the Kingdom of Norway, two settlements in the archipelago are mostly populated by Russians and Ukrainians. Around 450 people live in the modern mining community of Barentsburg, while fewer than 10 live in the Soviet ghost town of Pyramiden.
Is it illegal to be born Svalbard?
There is no law or rule of any kind against being born in Longyearbyen.
How much does it cost to live in Svalbard?
The cost of living in Svalbard is approximately the same as in the rest of Norway. Stipulated costs for accommodation and food is approximately NOK 10 000 per month. All travel expenses to and from Longyearbyen must be paid by the student.
Does Russia own Svalbard?
Since 1932 the Russian state-owned Arktikugol Trust (Russian for “Arctic Coal”) has been operating on Svalbard and the main economic activity in Barentsburg is coal mining by Arktikugol. The town relies entirely on mainland Russia for food and coinage.
How cold is it in Svalbard?
Meteorology. Average summer temperatures on Svalbard range from 3 to 7 °C (37.4 to 44.6 °F) in July, and winter temperatures from −13 to −20 °C (8.6 to −4.0 °F) in January. The highest temperature ever recorded was 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) in July 2020 and the coldest was −46.3 °C (−51.3 °F) in March 1986.
Is it true that Svalbard is part of Norway?
No, it is part of Norway At face value the answer is easy: no, Svalbard is not a country, it is a part of Norway. It may be at least halfway between actual Norway and the North Pole, but the Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognised Svalbard as a sovereign part of the Kingdom of Norway. Not a dependency, but a sovereign part.
What is the Internet country code for Svalbard?
The hierarchical administrative subdivision codes for Svalbard is SJ.SV and for Jan Mayen is SJ.JM. By virtue of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code SJ, Svalbard and Jan Mayen were grouped together and allocated the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) .sj.
Which is the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago?
The largest island is Spitsbergen, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen. The islands were first used as a base by the whalers who sailed far north in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned.
What are the names of the settlements in Svalbard?
Apart from Longyearbyen, other settlements include the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research station of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Other settlements are farther north, but are populated only by rotating groups of researchers.