Popular places in Svalbard

Barentsburg

Barentsburg is a mining town on the Norwegian island of West Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. It was named after the Dutch navigator V. Barents. Now more than 300 Russians and Ukrainians live and work in this settlement.
The village is isolated, with autonomous life support. The industrial and social complex of Barentsburg includes a mine, a thermal power plant, a hospital, a kindergarten and other facilities. The residential settlement, housing and communal and auxiliary facilities are maintained by the Arktikugol company. Coal mined in the mine is used for the village’s own needs, and is also exported. For tourists, a hotel with a bar and a gift shop is open in the village.
Here you can visit the museum “Pomor”, founded in 1995. The museum, which tells about the history of the Spitsbergen archipelago from ancient times to the present day, has a geological exposition containing more than 33 types of minerals and rocks, the age of which ranges from 1-2 billion years to 5-6 thousand years.

Longyearbyen.

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement on the island of Svalbard in Norway. Founded in 1906 as a mining community, the town got its name from the owner of a coal mining company, John Longyearbyen. Today, coal has ceased to play an important role in the life of the city, Longyearbyen has become a research and tourist center.
Longyearbyen’s rows of one-story houses, painted in bright colors, look almost festive against the backdrop of the monochrome nature of Svalbard. There is a University Center in the city, a satellite station has been built that receives and processes data from orbiting satellites. Also located here is the World Seed Vault – millions of crop seeds are stored here in case of a worldwide disasters.
Longyearbyen attracts many tourists who want to get to know the unique polar nature of Svalbard. There are several hotels in the city, there is a city museum.

Ark.

On one of the islands of the Svalbard archipelago in the village of Longyearbyen, a grain storage was built, which was called the second “Noah’s Ark”.
The repository is a huge structure in the form of an underground 120-meter tunnel. It stores all kinds of grain. Every country in the world has its own compartment. An unusual grain bank was created to keep seeds safe in case of a global catastrophe (nuclear war, global warming, asteroid impact, etc.).
The island was chosen for the construction of the “ark” not by chance: its remoteness from the mainland, geological stability, rocks and low ambient temperature (minus 18⁰С) can serve as a natural refrigerator. Under such conditions, the seeds of cereals and legumes will be stored for thousands of years.

Cape Finiset.

The island of Svalbard still for the majority of Russians continues to be a kind of “terra incognita”, or simply unexplored land. But the popularity of this route is still growing – tourists tend to come here to admire the amazing Arctic nature.
Cape Finiset is located near the capital of Western Svalbard – the city of Longyearbyen. The sea here never freezes thanks to the Svalbard current branching off from the warm Gulf Stream, and the climate is not as severe as at the same latitudes elsewhere. Fans of winter fun and everyone who wants to test themselves in the conditions of a harsh polar winter come here. Here you can ride snowmobiles, admire the splendor of the northern lights, watch polar bears. Many people come to these parts to capture solar eclipses.

The Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic Ocean is one of the smallest oceans on Earth. It is located in the northern hemisphere of the earth between North America and Eurasia. The ocean covers a total area of ​​14.75 million square kilometers. The average depth of the ocean is 1.225 meters, and the greatest is 5.527 meters in the Grenada Sea. The volume of water in the ocean is 18.07 million square kilometers.
Visually, the ocean can be divided into three natural areas: the Arctic Basin, the North European Basin, and the Canadian Basin. Due to the favorable geographical position in the central part of the ocean, the ice cover remains intact throughout the year, while being in a mobile state. Given that the water in the ocean is very cold, only cold-resistant marine life can live here – such as whales, penguins, fur seals and many others.

Pyramid Mountain.

The mountain is located near the village of the same name in the former USSR, and later Russia, and for a long time served as one of the richest coal mines in fossils. In 1998, the mine was closed and the village was evicted to the mainland. Today, this village resembles an abandoned lunar station, and in the period from 1956 to 1996. it was a fairly advanced mining village with a developed infrastructure and capital buildings quite suitable for northern conditions, suitable for housing and leisure.
Now the territory of the village of Pyramiden belongs to Norway. The Norwegians quickly adapted it as a tourist site and today they bring tourists here for quite a lot of money. But despite this, much more restoration work is required in the village. Today only 17 people live here.
The tourist season here lasts throughout the day from March to August, but even in summer the air temperature does not exceed 4-5°C. Particularly interesting and it is beautiful here in the spring, when there is still snow and you can ski. The movement of tourists is controlled by local authorities with a mandatory log entry and regular access to communication via satellite phone.

Prince Charles Island.

Prince Karl Island is a picturesque natural attraction in Norway, which is part of the Forlande National Park. The island is home to a large number of polar bears.
On the island, from north to south, there is a chain of Grampian mountains with pointed peaks. The highest point on the island is Mount Monaco at 1,084 meters. Among the mountains, you can also find plains – the Forlanneletta Plain. At the foot of the mountains are several freshwater lakes and other bodies of salt water. 17 percent of the island’s area is covered by glaciers, most of which descend into the Vorlannsundet Strait.
The land of King Charles was found by a Moscow expedition from the highest point on the island of Barents.

Northeast Land.

Northeast Land is an uninhabited island in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean. Refers to the territory of Norway. It occupies an area of ​​14.5 thousand square kilometers.
The surface of the island is a plateau, up to 637 meters high. Of the entire surface of the island, 11,135 square kilometers are occupied by glaciers. Mosses and lichens grow in ice-free areas. There are a significant number of fjords on the northern coast of the Northeast Land.

Svalbard Airport

Svalbard Airport is the main regional airport serving the polar archipelago of Svalbard.
It is located in the city of Longyearbyen, which is the largest settlement and the administrative center of the Norwegian province of Svalbard. From the airport there are flights to the Norwegian mainland and to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg.
On the territory of the airport there is a car park for 200 cars, a car rental office and a taxi rank. The passenger terminal has a cafeteria where you can buy mineral water, baguettes and hot meals.