Spitsbergen<nowiki />
Map of Svalbard, showing Spitsbergen in the West. Map of Svalbard, showing Spitsbergen in the West.
Geography <nowiki/>
Location	Svalbard, Arctic Ocean
Coordinates	Coordinates: <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Area	39,044 km²<nowiki />
Highest point	Newtontoppen (1,717 m (5633 ft))<nowiki />
Administration
Norway <nowiki/> <nowiki/> <nowiki/> <nowiki />
Largest city	Longyearbyen<nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki/> <nowiki /> <nowiki/> <nowiki /> <nowiki/> <nowiki /> <nowiki/> <nowiki />

Spitsbergen (formerly known as West Spitsbergen) is a Norwegian island, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago, situated in the Arctic Ocean. The island of Spitsbergen covers approximately 39,044 sq km (15,075 sq miles).^[1] This name was also formerly applied to the entire archipelago of Svalbard and occasionally still is. It is around 450 km (280 miles) long and between 40 and 225 km (25 and 140 miles) wide. As Spitsbergen lies far within the arctic circle, the Sun is above the horizon for 24 hours a day from late April to late August. From 26 October to 15 February the Sun is continuosly below the horizon, whilst from 12 November to the end of January there is civil polar night, where it is so continuously dark that artificial light must be used 24 hours each day.

History

The name Spitsbergen means "jagged peaks" and was given by the Dutch explorer Willem Barents, who discovered the island while searching for the Northern Sea Route in 1596. 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. They concluded that the land they had found was a part of Greenland and, therefore, named it Grumant (Грумант). The name Svalbard is first mentioned in Icelandic sagas of the 10th and 11th centuries, but they may also refer to the Jan Mayen island or even Greenland.

Spitsbergen is one of three inhabited islands in the archipelago, and according to the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, citizens of any of the signatory countries may settle in the archipelago. Currently, only Norway and Russia make use of this right. 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 Grumantbyen and Pyramiden (abandoned in 1961 and 1998, respectively), a Polish research station at Hornsundet, and the remote northern settlement of Ny Alesund.^[2]

Early whaling expeditions to Svalbard tended, because of currents and fauna, to cluster around West Spitsbergen and the islands off-shore.

Kvadehuksletta, on western Spitsbergen, is notable for its unique stone structures, including very circular stones and labyrinthine patterns. These structures are believed to be the result of frost heaving.

The island of Edgeøya lies to the southeast of Spitsbergen. This uninhabited island is the largest part of the South East Svalbard Nature Reserve, home to polar bears and reindeer.

Soldiers were stationed on the island in 1941 to prevent German occupation of 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 (Russia had a non-aggression pact with Germany until June 22, 1941). The UK and Canada sent military forces to the island to destroy installations and prevent the Germans from occupying the island.^[3]

Norwegian Seed Bank

Main article: Svalbard Global Seed Vault

By 2007, the Norwegian government is planning on building a $3 million "doomsday vault" on the island, which would house 10,000 seeds from various plants in case of nuclear war or sudden and severe ecological or environmental change. As reported by BBC News, the Norwegian government built this bank by hollowing out a cave on Spitsbergen and then putting in as many seeds as possible in the vault, with support from countries around the world. The proposed bank will have top security, blastproof doors and would have two airlocks (additional BBC article on the design of the vault). The amount of seeds deposited will depend on the number of countries participating in the project.

Popular Culture

• In the fairy tale, The Snow Queen, this is the location of the Snow Queen's palace.

See also

• Polish Polar Station, Hornsund - Hornsund fjord, operated since 1957
• Russenorsk language
• List of islands of Norway by area

Sources

• West Spitsbergen. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 16, 2005, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.

References and notes

External links

• Photoseries from Dutch travel photographer Thijs Heslenfeld
• The Svalbard Pages
• General information on Spitsbergen
• Spitsbergen (photos, geographical and practical information, traveling reports and literature)
• Information on the nature of Spitsbergen, with many pictures
• Spitsbergen Maps
• Stone circles explained, with pictures of stones in Kvadehuksletta
• Spitsbergen Banknotes
• Information on Spitsbergen
• Captioned photos from Spitsbergen's Longyearbyen and Pyramiden