SVALBARD

Svalbard (prior to 1925 known by its Dutch name Spitsbergen) is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Situated north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole.The islands of the group range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. The largest island is Spitsbergen, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. Administratively, the archipelago is not part of any Norwegian county, but forms an unincorporated area administered by a governor appointed by the Norwegian government.Since 2002, Svalbard's main settlement, Longyearbyen, has had an elected local government, somewhat similar to mainland municipalities.

The islands were first taken into use as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway.

Geography

Since Svalbard is located north of the Arctic Circle it experiences midnight sun in summer and polar night in winter. At 74° north, the midnight sun lasts 99 days and polar night 84 days, while the respective figures at 81° are 141 and 128 days. In Longyearbyen, midnight sun lasts from 20 April until 23 August, and polar night lasts from 26 October to 15 February. In winter, the combination of full moon and reflective snow can give additional light.

The landforms of Svalbard were created through repeated ice ages, when glaciers cut the former plateau into fjords, valleys and mountains. The tallest peak is Newtontoppen (1,717 m or 5,633 ft), followed by Perriertoppen (1,712 m or 5,617 ft), Ceresfjellet (1,675 m or 5,495 ft), Chadwickryggen (1,640 m or 5,380 ft) and Galileotoppen (1,637 m or 5,371 ft). The longest fjord is Wijdefjorden (108 km or 67 mi), followed by Isfjorden (107 km or 66 mi), Van Mijenfjorden (83 km or 52 mi), Woodfjorden (64 km or 40 mi) and Wahlenbergfjorden (46 km or 29 mi). Svalbard is part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province, and experienced Norway's strongest earthquake on 6 March 2009, which hit a magnitude of 6.5.

History

Norsemen possibly discovered Svalbard as early as the 12th century. There are traditional Norse accounts of a land known as Svalbarð—literally "cold shores"—although this might have referred to Jan Mayen, or a part of eastern Greenland. It was thought both Svalbard and Greenland were connected to Continental Europe. The archipelago might in that period have been used for fishing and hunting. The Dutchman Willem Barentsz made the first discovery of the archipelago in 1596, when he sighted its coast while searching for the Northern Sea Route^.

In the current situation, it is also the most northern settlement unit in the world. The number of polar bears here is around 3500 and protected. The most amazing thing about Svalbard is Aurora Borealis. Svalbard is one of the rare places where you can see the northern lights.The most important conditions for viewing northern lights (aurora borealis) are; the darkness of the air, the intensity of the aurora activity and a clear sky. This is the best time for the northern lights between the end of November and March.

Svalbard  is one of the few places in the world where we can see the rare northern lights so  it is a great place and also there are a lot of -3500- polar bears. I think Svalbard is one of the most important places in the World  with its nature and living things.İf you are interested in nature , cold and  pretty big animals you should go there.