Careers, Jobs and Education Resources for: Svalbard

Economic 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.

Environmental Issues

Na

Government Type

Na

Population

2,165 (july 2008 est.)

Location

Northern europe, islands between the arctic ocean, barents sea, greenland sea, and norwegian sea, north of norway

Area

Total: 61,020 sq km land: 61,020 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes spitsbergen and bjornoya (bear island)

Slightly smaller than west virginia

Country Aliases

Conventional long form: none conventional short form: svalbard (sometimes referred to as spitzbergen)

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

International Disputes

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