Background: First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century the islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and 18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five years later it officially took over the territory.

Geographic coordinates: 78 00 N 20 00 E

Map reference: Arctic Region

Area
Total: 61,020 km²
Land: 61,020 km²
Water: 0 km²
Note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)
Comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 3,587 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 4 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia

Climate: arctic tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen keeping water open and navigable most of the year

Terrain: wild rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m

Natural resources: coal iron ore copper zinc phosphate wildlife fish

Land use
Arable land: 0%
Permanent crops: 0%
Other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005)

Irrigated land: NA

Natural hazards: ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic

Geography
Note: northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government

Population: 2,165 (July 2008 est.)
Growth rate: -0.023% (2008 est.)

Ethnic groups: Norwegian 55.4% Russian and Ukrainian 44.3% other 0.3% (1998)

Languages: Norwegian Russian

Age structure
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Population growth rate: -0.023% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: NA (2008 est.)

Death rate: NA (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: NA (2008 est.)

Environment
Current issues: NA

Sex ratio: NA

Infant mortality rate
Total: NA
Male: NA
Female: NA (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: NA
Male: NA
Female: NA (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: NA (2008 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0% (2001)
People living with hivaids: 0 (2001)
Deaths: 0 (2001)

Literacy: NA

Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as Spitzbergen)

Government type: NA

Capital
Name: Longyearbyen
Geographic coordinates: 78 13 N, 15 33 E
Time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Independence: none (territory of Norway)

Legal system: the laws of Norway where applicable apply

Executive branch
Chief of state: King HARALD V of Norway (since 17 January 1991)
Head of government: Governor Per SEFLAND (since 1 October 2005); Assistant Governor Rune Baard HANSEN (since 2003)
Elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor and assistant governor responsible to the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice

International organization participation: none

Flag description: the flag of Norway is used

Economy overview: Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. The treaty of 9 February 1920 gave the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US UK Dutch and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island runs many of the local services and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some hunting of seal reindeer and fox.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $NA

Real gdp growth rate: NA%

Labor force: NA

Budget
Revenues: $25.07 million
Expenditures: $NA (2004 est.)

Exports: $197.6 million (2004)

Imports: $NA

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NOK) per US dollar - 5.8396 (2007) 6.4117 (2006) 6.4425 (2005) 6.7408 (2004) 7.0802 (2003)

Telephones
Main lines in use: NA

Telephone system
General assessment: probably adequate
Domestic: local telephone service
International: country code - 47-790; satellite earth station - 1 of unknown type (for communication with Norwegian mainland only)

Internet
Country code: .sj
Users: NA

Airports: 4 (2007)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 3
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 3 (2007)

Heliports: 1 (2007)

Ports and terminals: Barentsburg Longyearbyen Ny-Alesund Pyramiden

Disputes international: despite recent discussions Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone