Spitsbergen

Also known as Spitzbergen, West Spitsbergen, Vestspitsbergen, West Spitzbergen, Spitspergen

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 Norway in the Arctic Ocean.

AI overview

Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently inhabited island in the Svalbard archipelago, located in the Arctic Ocean north of Norway. As a significant Arctic settlement, it represents human presence in one of Earth's most remote and extreme environments.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Islands.name: Spitsbergen
Islands.image_name: Spitsbergen.png
Islands.image_caption: Map of the Svalbard archipelago, with Spitsbergen emphasized in solid red. Inset shows the islands' place in Northern Europe.
Islands.location: Arctic Ocean
Islands.archipelago: Svalbard
Islands.area_km2: 37673 <!--
Islands.area: -->
Islands.rank: 36th
Islands.highest_mount: Newtontoppen
Islands.elevation_m: 1717 <!--
Islands.elevation: -->
Islands.country: Norway
Islands.country_largest_city: Longyearbyen
Islands.country_largest_city_population: 2,417
Islands.population: 2,884
Islands.population_as_of: 2020

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Population: 2642
Area: 39044
Elevation: 1713
Image: DeGeerdalen.JPG

Show 2 more facts

Commons category: Spitsbergen
P12749: Amblypharyngodon

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Article

17 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Early claims
Danish expansion
Spitsbergen Treaty
World War II
Postwar
Government
Population
Economy
Transport
Climate
Nature
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea. Spitsbergen covers an area of , making it the largest island in Norway and the 36th largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen. Other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Spitsbergen was covered in of ice in 1999, which was approximately 58.5% of the island's total area.