Largest settlement and administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Coal mining on the Norwegian side of Svalbard announced in January 2021 that it was phasing out coal entirely. https://www.politico.eu/article/coal-phaseout-reaches-remote-arctic-archipelago-svalbard-norway/. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2023)
Place in Svalbard, Norway
Longyearbyen
Town (de facto capital of Svalbard)
Panoramic, Aurora Borealis, Longyearbyen at night, Global Seed Vault, Church in Longyearbyen, Bjørndalen base station, Houses in Longyearbyen, The Culture House, View of the city.
Longyearbyen (Urban East Norwegian:[ˈlɔ̀ŋjɛrˌbyːən],[1] locally Norwegian pronunciation:[ˈlɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən]; "Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000, and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank of the Longyear Valley and on the shore of Adventfjorden, the short estuary leading into Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the island's broadest inlet. As of 2002 Longyearbyen Community Council became an official Norwegian municipality. It is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. The town's mayor is Arild Olsen.[2]
Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after American John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal-mining there in 1906. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) took over the mining operations in 1916, and still conducts mining. The German Kriegsmarine almost completely destroyed the town on 8 September 1943, but rebuilding took place after the Second World War. Historically, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations moved to Sveagruva during the 1990s, and production ceased in 2017 due to immense financial losses suffered by SNSK since 2014 due to market conditions.[3] Meanwhile, the town has seen a large increase in tourism and research. This includes the arrival of institutions such as the University Centre in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. Svalbard Airport, Svalbard Church and the Svalbardbutikken department store serve the community.
^"Longyearbyen". Store Norske Leksikon. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
^"SvalbardPosten". Archived from the original on 3 February 2019.[not specific enough to verify]
^"Final Closure: Government recommends permanent shutdown of mining at Svea, Lunckefjell | icepeople". icepeople. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
followed in size by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Whalers who sailed far north in the...
of Longyearbyen on the west coast, and is the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled public flights. The first airport near Longyearbyen was...
Longyearbyen School (Norwegian: Longyearbyen skole) is a combined primary and secondary school located in and serving Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. The...
Norway and the 36th largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen. Other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian...
respective figures at the 81° parallel north are 141 and 128 days. In Longyearbyen, midnight sun lasts from 20 April until 23 August, and polar night lasts...
site of Nordfjorden in the Isfjord, stood roughly diagonally opposite Longyearbyen. The Rotterdam-based Van der Eb and Dresselhuys Scheepvaartmaatschappij...
Svalbard Act, which also limits which Norwegian laws apply to the islands. Longyearbyen Community Council is the only elected local government and is organized...
Longyearbyen Community Council (Norwegian: Longyearbyen lokalstyre) is the local government for Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. It has many of the same...
Svalbard Turn is a sports club based in Longyearbyen, Norway. The club was founded on 6 September 1930, with gymnastics as its main activity. Today, the...
adjacent to the town. The nearest settlements are Svalbard's capital, Longyearbyen, some 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the south, Barentsburg approximately 100...
largest settlement in the archipelago (after Longyearbyen and Barentsburg). Around 300 workers living in Longyearbyen commuted to Sveagruva for work on a daily...
in Longyearbyen. The former produced 3.4 million tonnes in 2008, while the latter uses 35% of its output to power the power station in Longyearbyen. Since...
Just below this settlement at 78.12° N is Svalbard's primary city, Longyearbyen, which has a population of over 2,000. When occupied for a few weeks...
receive around 400 millimetres (16 inches) annually, and the high Arctic Longyearbyen 217 millimetres (8.5 inches). Parts of southeastern Norway including...
September 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2016. "Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-04. "Lov om norsk...
followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The administrative center is Longyearbyen, and other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian...
Antarctica/Vostok Vostok Canonical +05:00 +05:00 +05 antarctica SJ Arctic/Longyearbyen Link +01:00 +02:00 CET CEST backward Link to Europe/Berlin YE Asia/Aden...
the starting and final point of all expeditions to Barneo has been Longyearbyen, the capital of the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. The town has necessary...
national authorities without any local democracy. An exception is the Longyearbyen Community Council in Svalbard, which since 2004 in reality acts partly...
farm in the central settlement and administrative capital of Svalbard, Longyearbyen. First inhabited in 1896, the town became a prominent Norwegian centre...
Global Information
Norway