Where is the island of Svalbard located? Who owns the island of Svalbard? Svalbard: the archipelago where no one dies

Which is undoubtedly a plus in terms of cheap travel in Europe. A few years ago we set out to travel all over Europe and now we have 42 countries in our piggy bank. But one of the most memorable trips of my life happened when in February we went in search of northern lights to the island of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean, which, by the way, is one of the largest European territories with untouched wildlife.

HOW TO GET TO

The cheapest and easiest way to get to Svalbard is by plane from Norway. Regular flights to Longyearbyen International Airport are operated by SAS and low cost Norwegian Airlines. Ticket prices depend on the season and your financial capabilities, on average, a direct flight from Oslo costs from € 179 (Norwegian Airlines) and from € 384 (SAS). From , largest city in the north of Norway - from € 240. Such a trip implies that you have a Schengen visa, and you can go through the customs control of the Norwegian authorities. We flew to Longyearbyen with Norwegian Airlines from Berlin with a change in and tickets for two cost us € 316.

“Hotels are more like temporary construction trailers, even the 4* Radisson Blue. Severe weather conditions simply do not allow building anything else.”

DAY 1

I didn’t have a general picture of what people are doing in the archipelago, so the trip turned out to be really interesting and impressive. The adventure began even before we landed on the island. Somewhere in the middle of the way, the pilot announced over the speakerphone that everyone in a few minutes would be able to watch the northern lights through the windows on the right side. It was an incredible and breathtaking sight that everyone should see at least once.

Arriving in Longyearbyen on an evening flight, we found the runway covered with snow and ice, which is not surprising, since local airport accepts only 3-7 flights per week. At the exit from the airport, regular buses were already waiting for us, which took all the passengers to hotels, more like temporary trailers for builders, even 4 * Radisson Blue. Severe weather conditions simply do not allow building anything else.

We settled in a former mining hostel, converted into a hotel, - Coal Miners Cabins (Nybyen, 9171, Longyearbyen) 20 minutes walk from the city center. The hotel rooms are located in separate standing buildings, each with a shared bathroom and living room. Our room had a beautiful view of the mountains. In the main building at the reception, you can use free Wi-Fi, buy snacks and souvenirs in the shop. The hotel has its own restaurant Coal Miners Bar & Grill (13 S Center St. Lansford, PA 18232) with free breakfast for guests.

After dinner we went to gather strength for the next day. Moreover, in the evening in the local latitudes it is extremely dangerous to move alone - there is a chance to meet a polar bear. That's why every inhabitant of the archipelago carries a gun with him, even going to the pub for a beer with friends.

DAY 2

Svalbard, or Svalbard, as the Norwegians call it, means "cold shores" - this is a vast polar archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean. The archipelago is jointly owned by 41 countries that signed the treaty in 1920. In theory, this means that residents of all these countries can come to Svalbard without a visa and work there. In fact, besides Norway, which considers these lands to be its own, significant (by Arctic standards) economic activity on the archipelago is carried out only by Russia, which has its own settlement on the island - the village of Barentsburg, as well as the mothballed villages of Piramida and Grumant.

The administrative center of Svalbard is the largest village of Longyearbyen, which was built in 1906 by the Arctic Cole Co. The village was named after the founder of this company, the American John Longyearbyen.

The polar day in Svalbard lasts from March to August, at this time the main streams of tourists arrive here. In winter, daylight hours last only 4 hours (from 10.00 to 14.00), so to see the untouched wildlife you need to get up early. We were very lucky with the forecast, it was not so cold, on average -15. But you need to understand that weather conditions can change at any time, so you need to stock up on warm clothes, thermal underwear, comfortable shoes and, if possible, cover your face as much as possible. You shouldn't pack your suitcases too much, because in Longyearbyen you can buy everything you need.

First of all, we went to see the city, and on the way we met real locals- reindeer that walked in close proximity to private houses and were not afraid of anyone. The second thing that caught my eye was the huge number of snowmobiles, which are the main means of transportation in winter. According to official figures, their number exceeds even the population.

I must say that I am not a fan of museums, but Svalbard Museum (Postbox 521 9171 Longyearbyen), which interestingly tells about the geology and history of the region, its unique flora and fauna, human activity, definitely should not be left without your attention. In the same place, as a keepsake, I bought earrings in the form of polar bears, since, fortunately, I could not meet the real ones.

On Svalbard, the culture and traditions of people of different nationalities and professions are closely intertwined. Norwegian Vikings, Russian Pomors, Dutch, Swedes; whalers and hunters, travelers, arctic adventurers, members of scientific expeditions, miners. So, for example, on the island there is a tradition to take off shoes indoors (even in hotels and some restaurants), it was laid by miners so as not to carry coal dust into the house.

“First of all, we went to see the city, and on the way we met real locals - reindeer”

A peculiar attraction of the city are absolutely all its houses and buildings, painted in red, orange, yellow and green colors and illuminated at night by hundreds of lights, which are very picturesquely reflected from the snowy whiteness. Longyearbyen is also home to the smallest northern church in the world.

On Svalbard, no one is born and no one dies. Women in the last stages of pregnancy and seriously ill patients are taken to the nearest mainland. This is because, according to the law, it is forbidden to die in the archipelago and there are no cemeteries. The fine for relatives who violate this taboo is comparable to the cost of transporting the deceased to the mainland. It is curious that in an effort to protect nature in Longyearbyen, it was also forbidden to breed cats so that they would not exterminate the populations of local birds.

Despite the remote location, the city has a fairly developed infrastructure. Cards are accepted everywhere, which is a huge plus. There is a big supermarket Svalbardbutikken (Coop Svalbard 9170 Longyearbyen) where you can stock up on everything you need, including alcohol, which is sold to foreigners only with a boarding pass. You should not worry, in a bar or restaurant you will not be required to have a ticket.

For lunch, we decided to look into a colorful place called Kroa (Steakers Svalbard AS Postboks 150 9171 Longyearbyen), where at the entrance you are greeted by an inscription in Russian “at the very end of the world”, and the bar counter is decorated with an impressive bust of the leader of the world proletariat Lenin. They say that it used to stand in the now mothballed village of Pyramiden, then migrated to Barentsburg, and then was donated to the restaurant. The interior is complemented by hunting rifles, driftwood, skins, paintings and old photographs. The cuisine is Scandinavian and European, there are dishes, many of which you will not find almost anywhere, such as seal or whale meat. And be sure to try the beer from the local brewery - when else you will have such an opportunity! This place is very popular, so I advise you to book a table in advance.

But the most memorable moment of the second day, and of the whole trip as a whole, was the evening dog sledding excursion. Of the variety of proposals, having studied a bunch of reviews, we settled on Svalbard Villmarkssenter (Svalbard Villmarksenter AS Pb 396 9171 Longyearbyen). The tour included transfer from the hotel and back, equipment, as well as hot tea with snacks after the walk.

Our guide was a French woman who moved here a few years ago, leaving a boring job in search of adventure. After arriving at the Svalbard Villmarksenter, we received instructions on how to handle dog sled, warmed up and set off in pairs (one pair on a sleigh) on our mini-journey. It's amazing how hardy and fast dogs turned out to be, that's who certainly enjoys their work! Within a few hours, we made friends with our four-legged friends, plowed the deserted Arctic landscapes, contemplated the crystal clear sky full of stars, and several times watched the amazing natural phenomenon- northern lights.

“Alcohol is sold to foreigners only with a boarding pass”

DAY 3

On the final day, we had an excursion to the coal mine planned. Gruve-3 Svalbard (Gruve 3 AS Pb 613 9171 Longyearbyen). Low-speed mine No. 3, which produced coal until 1996, has now been converted into a museum. All equipment and machines were left intact, which gives a real idea of how the coal mine worked in those days. There is also a model of the mine, where, wearing special knee pads, you can try on the hard work of a miner.

The largest coal company, Norske Spitsbergen Coal Company, was founded in 1916 and operated seven coal mines in Longyearbyen. Previously, the basis of the economy of Spitsbergen was precisely coal mining, but now this process has ceased to be profitable and is supported more by tradition, and tourism brings money. Now only Mine 7 is manned and 30% of the mined coal is used to provide heat and electricity to the people of Longyearbyen.

And finally, we looked into the northernmost shop selling chocolate - Fruene (Fruene AS, Pb 620, 9171 Longyearbyen). They have a great selection of sweets to taste, including little polar bears, and hot chocolate that's hard to resist when it's freezing outside.

What else can you see on the island? Abandoned mining settlement Pyramiden, a socialist reserve with beautifully preserved buildings. Seed storage, which was called the second "Noah's Ark" and 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 section. An unusual bank was created to keep a safe supply of seeds in case of a global catastrophe.

In order to understand what Svalbard is, you definitely need to visit it and see everything with your own eyes. I would like to come back here in the summer. Go trekking and go hiking in search of whales, seals, walruses and bird colonies. So if you love unusual travel and wildlife, then feel free to go to the land where polar bears, blue icebergs and sharp mountains reign.

life hacks

Svalbard is an impressive island archipelago lying in the vast western part of the Arctic Ocean. In fact, the lands belong to the royal house of Norway, but Russia also has its own settlements on the archipelago. The administrative center of Svalbard is the city of Longyearbyen.

Geography and nature of the island of Svalbard

The archipelago includes three large islands: Edge, North-Eastern Land, Western Svalbard; seven less significant: White, Barents, Royal, Bear, Swedish, Wilhelm, Prince Karl Land. How to get to the .

The highest point of the archipelago is Mount Newtontoppen with a height of 1712 m. The eternal ice cover occupies 35 thousand km2, which is more than half of the total territory of the islands. The coastal zones are indented with wonderful fjords, which become objects of interest for European tourists.

Svalbard is dominated by tundra flora. These are polar willow, dwarf birch, various types of fungi, lichens, as well as mosses and vascular plants. The fauna is represented by polar bears, which are innumerable here. They are accompanied by arctic foxes, as well as Svalbard reindeer. The latter are considered the smallest of the reindeer. Previously, scientists artificially tried to populate the islands with Greenland musk oxen and hares, but this enterprise failed. Of the marine inhabitants, we single out: seals, bearded seals, walruses, whales, beluga whales, harp seals. In addition to polar bears, all inhabitants are found in large numbers near settlements.

More than half of all territories are included in the nature protection zone: three sanctuaries and three nature reserves.

Finally, about the climate. Arctic weather is moderated on the western side of the archipelago by the warm Svalbard current, which in turn originates from the Gulf Stream. On the coast, the average winter temperature reaches -14C; summer +4.4С. Moreover, a temperature drop of 20C is possible both in the negative and in the positive direction.

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Svalbard - Svalbard

Svalbard (German Spitzbergen), other Russian. Grumant, Norwegian Svalbard (Svalbard) - a vast polar archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean, between 76 ° 26 "and 80 ° 50" north latitude and 10 ° and 32 ° east longitude. The northernmost part of the kingdom of Norway. The administrative center is Longyearbyen. The archipelago and coastal waters are a demilitarized zone.
Significant, by Arctic standards, economic activity in the archipelago, in addition to Norway, according to the special status of the archipelago, is also carried out by the Russian Federation, which has a Russian settlement on the island of Western Svalbard - the city of Barentsburg.

Geography

The largest islands:
Western Svalbard - 37,673 km²
Northeast Land - 14,443 km²
Edge (island) -0 5,074 km²
Barents Island -0 1,288 km²
White Island -000682 km²
Bear Island -000178 km²

The total area occupied by the islands is approximately 64,200 km² (according to other sources, 61,723 km²)

natural conditions

Mountain relief. The highest point of the islands is Mount Newton (1,712 m) in Western Svalbard. Glaciers occupy 35.1 thousand km² - more than half of the area of the archipelago. The coast is cut by fjords. Permafrost - layer thickness up to 200 m.

Tundra vegetation - dwarf birch, dwarf willow, mosses, lichens. Of the mammals on the islands, only polar bear, reindeer, arctic fox, field mouse and musk ox resettled from Greenland; marine animals - seals, harp seals, whales. About 90 species of birds, during the flight season - more than 110 species.

About half of the territory is occupied by nature protection zones: 3 reserves and 3 sanctuaries.

Large deposits of high-calorific coal are estimated at 10 billion tons.

Arctic climate, moderated in the west by the warm Svalbard Current (part of the Gulf Stream). The average air temperature on the coast is from +4.4 °C (July) to -10 ... -14 °C (January). The maximum recorded temperature is +24.5 °C (July 1978), the minimum is -46.3 °C (March 1986).

The archipelago is located in a seismically active zone, earthquakes of 4-5 magnitudes on the Richter scale are noted, the possibility of earthquakes up to 6-7 magnitudes is allowed.

It was supposedly discovered by the Vikings or Pomors in the 12th century. It was known to the Pomors under the name Grumant, now this is the name of one of the villages on the islands. The Svalbard expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of V.F. Starkov proved that in the middle of the 16th century. Pomor settlements existed on Svalbard. The discovery of the archipelago is attributed to the Dutchman Willem Barents in 1596, but around the same time, the archipelago appeared on Russian maps under the name "Holy Russian Islands". A few years later, England and Denmark declared their claims to the islands.
Whaling

In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was used by various countries as a whaling base until the whales were almost completely exterminated in the region. The center of Dutch whaling since 1614 was the village of Smeerenburg. Norway, along with Iceland and Japan, continues this fishery, despite the moratorium of the International Commission on the Regulation of Whaling.

In the 20s of the 19th century, Norway claimed the island, where coal was already being mined by American, British, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish enterprises. On February 9, 1920, the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden signed the Svalbard Treaty in Paris. The USSR joined in 1935. All countries participating in the agreement (39 countries) have the right to freely carry out economic activities there. But only the Norwegian and Soviet settlements survived World War II, and it is Russia and Norway that do most of the economic activity, mostly on the island of West Spitsbergen.

Polar expeditions were also carried out from here, for example, flights by Roald Amundsen on seaplanes with the money of the American millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth. On May 21, 1925, Amundsen leaves Svalbard for Alaska via the North Pole, but does not fly and returns to Svalbard. On May 11, 1926, the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile expedition starts from Svalbard on an airship designed by Umberto Nobile. Having flown over the Pole (piloted by the airship Nobile), the expedition landed in Alaska. Under Mussolini, Umberto Nobile, already a general and an honorary member of the ruling fascist party, on May 23, 1928, decided to repeat the flight to the North Pole. Starting from Svalbard, he reached the Pole, but on the way back the airship crashed. Amundsen, who flew out in search of Nobile, died, and the surviving crew members of the airship were saved on July 12 by the Soviet icebreaker Krasin.

On August 29, 1996, a Russian Tu-154M aircraft of Vnukovo Airlines crashed while landing near the city of Longyearbyen. 141 people were killed: 130 passengers and 11 crew members.

Although the Svalbard archipelago is controlled by the Kingdom of Norway and is part of it (officially since 1925), there are restrictions related to taxation (tax-free zone), environmental protection, protection of rights local population and military activities (demilitarized zone).

There are two islands official languages- Norwegian and Russian, Russian citizens do not need a visa to visit the archipelago. Coal mining in the mines is carried out under a concession by the Russian concern Arktikugol, formerly the Soviet trust.

There is a small tourism business in the archipelago. In the 2000s, the World Seed Vault was built on the island.

Population

The population of the archipelago is about 2,400 people (as of 2005), including:

* 1,645 Norwegians;
* 747 Russians
* 8 Poles.

The largest settlement is Longyearbyen, 2,075 people, the majority are Norwegians. It is also the administrative center of the archipelago.

Other settlements:

* Russian mining villages: Barentsburg (850 people), Grumant and Piramida (mothballed)
* Norwegian International Research Center Ny-Ålesund (about 30 people, more than 100 in summer)
* Norwegian mining village Sveagruva (90 people, with workers from Longyearbyen more than 300)
* Polish research station Hornsund (9 people).

Population by years
Year Total Norwegians Russians Poles
1990 3 544 1 125 2 407 12
1995 2 906 1 218 1 679 9
2000 2 376 1 475 893 8
2005 2 400 1 645 747 8

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Svalbard

Norwegian Svalbard




Characteristics


largest island	Western Svalbard

total area	61,022 km²

highest point	1712 m

Population	2642 people (2009)

Population density	0.04 people/km²

Location

78° N sh. 16° in. d.


water area

A country



Svalbard



Svalbard at Wikimedia Commons

Svalbard(German: Spitzbergen), also Svalbard(Norwegian Svalbard), spitsbergen(Dutch. Spitsbergen), Grumant- a vast polar archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean, between 76 ° 26 "and 80 ° 50" north latitude and 10 ° and 32 ° east longitude. Northernmost part. The administrative center is the city. The archipelago and coastal waters are a demilitarized zone.

Significant, by Arctic standards, economic activity in the archipelago, in addition to Norway, according to the special status of the archipelago, is carried out only by a Russian settlement on the island of Western Svalbard - a village, as well as the mothballed villages of Piramida and Grumant.

Etymology

The Russian name "Svalbard" is borrowed from the Dutch niderl. Spitzbergen - this name was given to the archipelago in 1596 by the Dutch navigator V. Barents, literally it means "sharp mountains" (Dutch. spitz - "sharp", Niderl. bergen - "mountains"). The Russian Pomors used the name "Grumant", which is considered a distorted transfer of the toponym "Greenland", - according to medieval ideas, Svalbard in the north connected with Greenland, and its name is known in the forms "Gruland, Grutland". In Norway itself, the name “Svalbard” (nor. Svalbard) is accepted - “cold land”, which the Scandinavian navigators of the 12th century gave to some northern land they discovered, later identified by F. Nansen with Svalbard.

Geography

Map of the Svalbard archipelago

The area of the archipelago is 61022 km².

It consists of three large islands - Western Svalbard, North-East Land and Edge Island; seven smaller islands - Barents Island, White, Prince Karl Land, Kongsoya ( royal island), Bear, Svensköya, Wilhelm Island; as well as groups of islands, small islets and skerries, with a total area of 621 km².

The largest islands:

natural conditions

Mountain relief. The highest point of the islands is Mount Newton (1712 m) in Western Svalbard. Glaciers occupy 35.1 thousand km² - more than half of the area of the archipelago. The coast is cut by fjords. Permafrost - layer thickness up to 200 m. Natural thawing of soils in summer ranges from 0.5 to 2.6 m.

Tundra vegetation - dwarf birch (lat. Bétula nána), polar willow (lat. Salix polaris), mosses, mushrooms, lichens and more than 170 species of vascular plants.

Of the mammals on the islands, only the polar bear, the Svalbard reindeer (the smallest of the reindeer species), and the arctic fox. Attempts to introduce other land mammals to the archipelago, in particular polar hares and musk oxen from Greenland, were unsuccessful. Also, narwhals can occasionally be found near the coast of Svalbard. Marine animals are abundant on the archipelago - seals, harp seals, bearded seals, walruses, beluga whales, whales. All of the listed animals (except for polar bears) are quite often found in close proximity to settlements.

There are about 90 species of birds on Svalbard, of which 36 constantly nest in the archipelago. The only species that lives in Svalbard all year round is the polar (white) partridge (lat. Lagopus mutus hyperboreus). The rest of the birds fly away to the southern countries for the winter, and return to the archipelago only in the spring to nest and breed.

About half of the territory is occupied by nature protection zones: 3 reserves and 3 sanctuaries.

Large deposits of high-calorific coal are estimated at 10 billion tons. A unique feature of Svalbard is also a significant number of rocks with fossilized remains of plants and animals. In 2007, a Norwegian group of paleontologists managed to discover the remains of the largest pliosaurus in the archipelago. Pliosaurus funkei. The high diversity of geological rocks of the archipelago is explained by its long migration through the Earth's mantle, during which Svalbard visited different climatic zones.

The climate is arctic, in the west it is significantly softened by the warm Svalbard Current (part of the Gulf Stream). The average air temperature on the coast is from +4 ... +6 ° C (July) to -10 ... -14 ° C (January). Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, winter temperatures in Svalbard are on average 20 degrees higher than in other places of comparable latitude. The maximum recorded temperature is +24.5 °C (July 1978), the minimum is -46.3 °C (March 1986).

The archipelago is located in a seismically active zone, earthquakes with a magnitude of 4-5 points on the Richter scale were noted, the possibility of earthquakes up to 6-7 points is expected.

Nature

National parks of Svalbard

The climate is harsh, the vegetation is not rich, the plants are low and cold-resistant. At the beginning of summer, the tundra is heavily swamped due to snowmelt, and the water level in the rivers is high. Mostly, South part Svalbard (zero zone) is free of snow in summer, although glaciers are found in the vicinity of all settlements. Red algae are often found on glaciers, giving the snow and ice a pinkish tint. Despite the round-the-clock polar day, the temperature difference between day and night in summer is noticeable and can reach 5-10 degrees Celsius. The first snowfalls occur in September, although snow is not uncommon at the end of August. Due to the relatively mild climate, Svalbard is also popular with tourists during the polar night, when stable snow and ice coverage makes snowmobiling possible.

As a rule, Caledonides participate in the structure of the archipelago. But they are more like the Caledonides of Greenland than Scandinavia. However, both are products of the Early Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean, which opened around the beginning of the Cambrian, about 550 million years ago. This ancient ocean was located in equatorial latitudes in the submeridional direction from 30° S. sh. (ancient coordinates) to the north, between the ancient continents Baltica and Canada-Greenland. Svalbard also includes more ancient rocks (Baikal folding). Apparently, this is a part of the Barents Sea Plate, which is of Proterozoic-Early Cambrian age. Most of the basement of Svalbard was formed somewhere on the active margin of the ancient Iapetus Ocean about 500 million years ago in the early Ordovician and is an island-arc igneous formation, strongly folded during the collision of the continents in the Silurian. By the beginning of the Silurian, the Iapetus Ocean began to shrink, carrying the Baltic towards Canada-Greenland, (450-440 million years ago) the British Isles, the island of Newfoundland and Svalbard, which experienced strong uplift and volcanic eruptions by the middle to the end of the Silurian. Then there was the final collision of the Baltic (Scandinavia), the British Isles, Greenland, Newfoundland and North America (Lawrence). The remains of ancient island arcs, limestones, clastic oceanic rocks of the Iapetus Ocean were crushed and lifted up to 9-11 thousand meters. At the point of collision of these parts of the world, a mountain range rose higher than today's Himalayas. 400 million years ago, Scandinavia was already connected to Greenland, and Svalbard was somewhere between them. The British Isles, Newfoundland and North America were also joined together. In the Late Paleozoic, granitoids were intruded in places. The current deposits of copper, chromium, nickel, titanium, iron, zinc, uranium and other metals, which are now located on the Kola Peninsula, in Scandinavia, Greenland, Svalbard, on the British Isles and on the east coast of North America, were formed precisely in that era.

Legal status of Svalbard

In 1920, as part of the Peaceful Paris Conference, the Svalbard Treaty was concluded, which consolidated Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago, but at the same time, all states parties to the Treaty had the right to carry out commercial and research activities on the basis of full equality and the demilitarized status of the archipelago (Article 3). According to article 2 of the Treaty, Norway received the right to the protection and restoration of flora and fauna, although concern for environmental situation was not typical for that time. In Article 8, Norway undertook to create a Mining Charter regulating economic activity in Svalbard, while the charter should not give privileges, monopolies and benefits to any country, including Norway. In 1925 the Mining Charter for Svalbard was adopted along with the National Svalbard Law.

Military significance

The geographical location of Spitsbergen is extremely advantageous from a military point of view, it allows you to control shipping and air traffic in the Arctic Ocean, provided that the necessary military infrastructure(points based fleet, airfields, radar and hydroacoustic stations).

The Soviet Union, in its negotiations with Norway, repeatedly raised the issue of sharing the territory of Svalbard to ensure the defense of the island, in particular, to deploy Soviet military bases on the island both during the Second World War, under the pretext of the need to protect northern convoys from land, and at the dawn of the Cold War. war, against the background of the emerging confrontation with the United States. The Norwegian Storting has repeatedly considered the issue of granting the territory of the USSR for military needs, but always rejected these projects by a majority vote. One of the last votes on this issue dates back to the summer of 1947, when the majority of parliamentarians once again refused the USSR to create military base on the island (out of 112 voters, 11 voted "for", 101 "against" the construction of a Soviet military base).

Story

Presumably, Russian Pomors and Vikings discovered the archipelago in the 12th century. Svalbard was first mentioned in the Icelandic Annals in an entry under 1194, reporting that “Svalbard was found” ( Svalbardi funnin). The name "Svalbard" is translated as "cold shores".

The Svalbard expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, led by V.F. Starkov, believes that Pomor settlements existed in Svalbard in the middle of the 16th century. In total, more than eighty Pomeranian monuments are known.

In 1596, the islands were discovered and documented by the Dutchman Willem Barents, who gave the main island the name "Spitsbergen", which means "sharp mountains". Barents discovered a large number of walruses and whales on the island and in its adjacent waters, which gave rise to numerous fishing expeditions. Around the same time, the archipelago appeared on maps under the name "Santi Rustene". A few years later, their claims to these lands were declared by and.

Whaling

In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was used by various countries as a base for whaling, until the whales were almost completely exterminated in this region. The center of Dutch whaling since 1614 was the village of Smeerenburg. , along with and, today continues this fishery, despite the moratorium of the International Commission on the Regulation of Whaling and the ban on the export of whale meat.

In 1743, on the island of Edge (Maly Brun) in the southeastern part of the archipelago, four Russian hunters from Mezen landed, led by feeder Alexei Khimkov, whose ship was ice-covered not far from its shores. Having practically no supplies, they managed to spend more than 6 years on the island, hunting bears, walruses and seals, catching arctic foxes and harvesting skins. In August 1749, three surviving winterers were discovered by a Russian merchant ship and taken to.

In 1760, the French scientist Pierre Ludovic Leroy, who became interested in their history, published on German in and an essay republished in 1766 in French in, and in a Russian translation of 1772 called "The Adventures of Four Russian Sailors, Brought to the Island of Ost-Spitsbergen by a Storm, Where They Lived for Six Years and Three Months."

In 1765-1766, Mikhail Lomonosov organized two marine scientific expeditions to Svalbard under the command of V. Ya. Chichagov, but the harsh climate did not allow the organization of permanent settlements on the archipelago, and until the beginning of the 20th century Svalbard had no official Russian presence. Nevertheless, the Pomors maintained a seasonal hunting presence in the archipelago, and the most desperate of them regularly stayed for the winter.

After the decline of whaling and fur trade at the end of the 18th century, over the next hundred years Svalbard was actually abandoned and was considered terra nullius - no man's land, that is, despite nominal claims to it. different countries, in fact, was not controlled by anyone. A new wave of interest began only at the end of the 19th century, when year-round access to ports and a relatively mild climate made Svalbard the main base for polar expeditions and Arctic tourism.

Many famous explorers have visited the archipelago, including Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and Ernst Shackleton. The northern part of the island of Western Svalbard is named Andre Land, in honor of Solomon Andre, who made an attempt to reach the North Pole in a balloon in 1897. In 1912, Western Spitsbergen was also described and mapped in detail as part of the last expedition of the famous Russian Arctic explorer and pioneer of the Northern Sea Route V. A. Rusanov. Svalbard was also visited by the first Arctic tourists - wealthy Europeans, including the representative of the royal family of Monaco, Prince Albert.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the economic situation on the islands has also gradually changed. Coal mining by American, British, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish enterprises led to the establishment of permanent settlements. Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago was recognized in 1920, when Italy signed the Svalbard Treaty in Paris. The Norwegians were in a hurry to secure the disputed lands for themselves in the absence of their main rival, the Russian Empire, which determined the unprecedented terms of the treaty. By agreement, all countries participating in the treaty retained the right to extract and develop minerals in the archipelago. On May 7, 1935, the USSR also joined it, which by that time already had several workers' settlements on Svalbard. The USSR was interested not only in local coal, but also in fish. Already in 1934, an expedition was sent to Svalbard on the hunting boat "Nikolai Knipovich", which discovered herring. It was followed by a voyage to the islands of the Avangard ship, which returned to Murmansk with 25 tons of catch after an 18-day voyage.

Since the mid-1920s, Svalbard has become world famous as a base for polar aviation - for example, Roald Amundsen's flights on seaplanes with the money of the American millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth. On May 21, 1925, Amundsen leaves Svalbard for the North Pole, but does not fly and returns to Svalbard. May 11, 1926 starts from Svalbard Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile expedition on an airship designed by Umberto Nobile. Having flown over the Pole (piloted by the airship Nobile), the expedition landed in Alaska. Under Mussolini, Umberto Nobile, already a general and an honorary member of the ruling fascist party, on May 23, 1928, decided to repeat the flight to the North Pole. Starting from Svalbard, he reached the Pole, but on the way back the airship crashed. Amundsen, who flew out in search of Nobile, died, and the surviving crew members of the airship were saved on July 12 by the Soviet icebreaker Krasin.

During the Second World War, Svalbard could not act as a full-fledged military base, so its population was evacuated, and the presence of German troops on the archipelago was limited to weather stations thrown from aircraft and submarines, correcting the work of German aviation in the Arctic. To eliminate them in 1942, a small Norwegian detachment was abandoned in the Longyearbyen area on two ships Isbjørn and Selis. Despite the fact that both ships were destroyed, the Norwegians managed to gain a foothold on the shore. In 1943, to destroy this detachment, the Germans sent a detachment of ships from the battleships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and nine destroyers to Svalbard, which destroyed most of Longyearbyen and Barentsburg with artillery fire (one of the coal mines set on fire at that time was extinguished only in 1960). The landing of the Germans on the coast was less successful. The Norwegians in the Barentsburg region resisted coastal artillery fire and retreated into the mountains to the village of Grumant.

In the post-war years, coal mining in the archipelago was resumed by Norwegian companies and Arktikugol, which also acted as the main representative of the Soviet Union in the Arctic. The gradual depletion of proven reserves in the mines of the archipelago led to a reduction in production everywhere except the Norwegian Sveagruva. As a result, the Norwegian government began to focus Spitsbergen on the development of tourism and expeditionary and scientific base. Arktikugol could not cope with the task of diversifying economic activities and in the post-Soviet period is subsidized from the state budget. In 2006 alone, the costs of maintaining the activities of the former Soviet concessions in Spitsbergen amounted to 395.6 million rubles.

Also, since 1949, Soviet fishing voyages to Svalbard for fish were resumed. The first major expedition in 1949 caught 462 tons of herring.

Current state

Ropeway for transporting coal

Although the Svalbard archipelago is controlled by the Kingdom and officially part of it since 1925, there are differences related to taxation (tax-free zone), environmental protection, protection of the rights of the local population and military activities (demilitarized zone).

There are two official languages on the islands - Norwegian and Russian; Russian citizens do not need a visa to visit the archipelago.

The Svalbard airport operates with regular flights to Norway (,) and irregular (charter) flights of Arktikugol to Moscow. One of these flights caused the largest tragedy in the history of Svalbard - on August 29, 1996, a Russian Tu-154M aircraft of Vnukovo Airlines crashed while landing directly opposite. 141 people were killed: 129 passengers and 12 crew members.

At present, Svalbard is one of the centers of polar and subpolar tourism; both large cruise ships from northern Europe and specialized ice-class tourist ships for excursions in the Arctic regularly stop in the port of Longyearbyen. The city has several hotels (including SAS Radisson), bars and restaurants with arctic cuisine (for example, the Kroa restaurant "On the edge of the earth"). There is a polar museum and Svalbard international university, significant scientific work is underway to study climate, geology and glaciology. In summer and winter, hiking, water (kayaks and boats), snowmobile excursions and expeditions depart daily from the city.

In the 2000s, the World Seed Vault, the so-called "Doomsday Vault", was built on the island with the money of the Norwegian government. This vault contains a seed bank of both cultivated and wild plants, designed to survive even in a nuclear war. In addition, the Berget Plateau hosts the antennas of the SvalSAT satellite station, the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar, and the KHO aurora observatory. Svalbard is connected to the mainland by a submarine fiber optic cable, within Barentsburg, Kolesbukhta and Longyearbyen, there is a cellular connection of both Russian (MegaFon) and Norwegian operators.

Population

The population of the archipelago is about 2600 people (as of January 1, 2009). Of these, 69.9% are Norwegians, 18.3% are Russians and Ukrainians, and 0.4% are Poles. The island has a completely visa-free regime, that is, representatives of all nations that signed the Svalbard Treaty of 1920 have the right to live and work. From a practical point of view, despite the absence of immigration and customs control, the harsh climate and high cost of living in Longyearbyen effectively limit the labor migration of service and tourism workers. After the collapse of the USSR, a number of former Arktikugol employees moved permanently to Longyearbyen, while the population of Russian mining villages continued to decline in proportion to the fall in coal production.

The largest settlement is about 2000 people, the majority are Norwegians. It is also the administrative center of the archipelago. Other settlements:

Russian mining villages: (470 people), Pyramid (3-4 people in winter, about 15 in summer, mostly mothballed) and Grumant (mothballed);
Norwegian International Research Center Ny-Ålesund (about 30 people, more than 100 in summer);
the Norwegian mining village of Sveagruva (90 people, with more than 300 workers from Longyearbyen);
Polish research station Hornsund (10 people).

There is also a mothballed settlement-port of Kolesbukhta, which was previously connected with Grumant by rail along the coast. At present, the road has fallen into disrepair, and the tunnel near the village of Grumant is backfilled as a result of ground movements.

Religion

Longyearbyen has the only active Lutheran church with its own clergyman. In Barentsburg - an Orthodox chapel. In agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Norway, the Lutheran pastor ministers to the faithful of these churches.

Economy

Since the beginning of the 20th century, coal mining has become the basis of the economy in Svalbard. At the same time, local coal seams, as a rule, have access directly from the slope of the mountains, and many places of coal occurrence are visible to the naked eye. This geological formation resulted in numerous small mines and open cuts along the coastline that opened and closed as the seams were exhausted and explored. The size of the settlements on Svalbard usually corresponded to the thickness of the nearby coal mines.

As coal reserves were depleted, the Norwegian authorities tried to diversify the island's economy through the development of tourism, in order to reduce the region's subsidies, and expand the research sector. Due to the collapse of the USSR, a similar diversification of the Russian segment of the economy began belatedly due to financial difficulties.

Notes

Pospelov, 2002, p. 475.
Kovacs K.M., Lydersen Ch. Birds and mammals of Svalbard. Polarhandbok No. 13. - Oslo, 2006, 203 p.
V.V. Slavinsky. Thermal regime of the lithosphere of passive continental margins on the examples of North-Western Spitsbergen and South-Eastern Australia // Proceedings of the XLII Tectonic Conference. - Moscow: Geological Institute (GIN) RAN, 2009. - V. 2. - S. 191-195.
A.I. Konyukhov. How many Atlantic Oceans were there? Retrieved February 11, 2012. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012.
About Svalbard. Story. Website of the Russian Embassy in Oslo, Norway.
Norway: Spitsbergen Decision. // Military Review. - July 1947. - Vol. 27 - no. 4 - P. 68.
Essays on the history of the development of the Arctic. Volume I. Svalbard. Pre-barents period in the history of Svalbard
Pomors from Grumant Island // Magazine "Around the World". September, 1983
Abraham Ortelius: Septentrionalium Regionum Descrip. (English) . Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
Tsetlin M. Polar Robinsons // Science and Life. - 1973. - No. 2.
Peter Ludovic Le Roy. Adventures of four Russian sailors brought to the island of Svalbard by a storm.
Portzel A.K. The first Soviet fishing expeditions to Svalbard and Iceland (1946-1952) // Arctic and North. - 2015. - No. 18. - P. 97
Svalbard's history - the cruise book from Svalbard. Norsk PolarInstitute. Retrieved November 2, 2010. Archived February 17, 2012.
S. Patyanin // Operation Citronella. tsushima.org.ru. Retrieved November 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
The Presence of the Russian Federation on the Svalbard Archipelago: Political, Legal, Economic and Humanitarian Aspects // Problems of the North and the Arctic of the Russian Federation: Scientific Information Bulletin / Federation Council, Committee on Northern Affairs and Small Numbers. peoples / otv. for issue V. Ya. Streltsov. - M.: Ed. Federation Council, 2007. - Issue. 6. - S. 127. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
Portzel A.K. The first Soviet fishing expeditions to Svalbard and Iceland (1946-1952) // Arctic and North. - 2015. - No. 18. - P. 102
The Russian Federation will continue its presence in the Norwegian Svalbard. Look (March 24, 2009). Retrieved 5 January 2015.
Order of the Ministry economic development Russian Federation (Ministry of Economic Development of Russia) dated April 4, 2011 N 142 Moscow "On approval of the Rules for granting subsidies from the federal budget to the federal state unitary enterprise State trust Arktikugol" Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Nikolai Nepomniachtchi, Mikhail Kurushin. [Book. 4: Disasters in the air, Ch. 2: Chronicle of the last decades]// The Great Book of Catastrophes. - M. : Olma media group, 2007. - 255 p. - ISBN 978-5-373-01023-8.
Population in the settlements. Svalbard

Literature

Belov M.I. In the footsteps of polar expeditions. - L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1977. - 144 p.: ill. With.
Shokalsky Yu. M. -. Svalbard // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Natalya Kozlova. Island of arrested ships // Russian newspaper: newspaper. - 2005. - No. 3904.
Hope Sorokina. Moscow will not weaken its position on Svalbard // Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Gazeta. - 2006. - No. 4024.
Le Roy P. L. Adventures of four Russian sailors brought to the island of Svalbard by a storm / Prev. M. I. Belova. Note. V. Yu. Vize. - 4th ed. - M.: Thought, 1975. - 56 p.: ill.
Zinger E. M. Country of mountains and glaciers // Nature: journal. - 1997. - No. 8.
Savatyugin L. M., Dorozhkina M. V. Spitsbergen archipelago: Russian names and titles. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2009. - 272 p.
Gnilorybov N. A. Coal mines in Svalbard. - Moscow: Nedra, 1988. - 191 p.
Zinger E. M. Svalbard is an ice archipelago. - M. : Penta, 2006. - 302 p.
Science in Svalbard: a history of Russian research. - St. Petersburg. : GAMAS, 2009. - 408 p.
Chernyshev F. N. Russian expedition to Svalbard. - Peace of God. - 1901. - 261 p.
N. E. Koroleva, N. A. Konstantinova, O. A. Belkina, D. A. Davydov, A. Yu. Likhachev, A. N. Savchenko, I. N. Urbanavichene. Flora and vegetation of the coast of the Grenfjord Bay (Spitsbergen archipelago). - Apatity: Ed. K & M, 2008. - 132 p.
Mikhailov I. A. Archipelago Spitsbergen: crossroads of events and destinies. - M. : Scientific world, 2004. - S. 226. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-89176-256-0.
Kokin O.V. Relief and deposits of the marginal zones of the glaciers of Western Svalbard.
S. V. Radzievskaya. Island of Courage.
Pospelov E. M. Geographical names of the world. Toponymic Dictionary/ resp. ed. R. A. Ageeva. - 2nd ed., stereotype. - M.: Russian dictionaries, Astrel, AST, 2002. - 512 p. - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-001389-2.
David Roberts. Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World. (2003). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2431-0.

History of mapping and archaeological study

Starkov V.F. Essays on the history of the development of the Arctic. Volume 1: Svalbard / Ed. dr ist. Sciences A. K. Stanyukovich; Reviewers: Dr. ist. Sciences V. P. Darkevich, Ph.D. ist. Sciences V. I. Zavyalov. Institute of Archeology RAS. - Ed. 2nd. - M. : Scientific world, 2009. - 96 p. - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-91522-101-6.

Links

Svalbard // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
Svalbard in the "Modern Encyclopedia"
Svalbard in BES
Svalbard // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. , 1907-1909.
Sysselmannen.no - Website of the Governor of Svalbard
Svalbard Tourism - website of the official tourist board
TopoSvalbard- interactive map, Norwegian Polar Institute
The history of one city: Longyearbyen (Svalbard) on the "Echo of Moscow"
Russian site - Svalbard. RU
V. N. Anchishkin. arctic romance

WHILE searching for a northeastern passage from the Atlantic Ocean to China and India on June 19, 1596, the Dutch navigator V. Barents suddenly saw on the horizon a thin strip of unknown land stretching to the north. After some time, the teeth of a fragmented mountain range and snow-white ribbons of glacial streams appeared. The unknown country with pointed peaks Barents designated in the ship's log as Svalbard (Sharp Mountains).
No one disputes the rights of Barents to be considered the official discoverer of Svalbard. However, the Svalbard expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of V.F. Starkov clearly proved that already in the middle of the 16th century. On Svalbard there were settlements of Russian Pomors, who then called the Grumant archipelago.

Spitsbergen Islands, Grumant

The history of the development of the archipelago is full of countless exciting events and facts. She owes this to the long-standing attempts to settle it, to the hunting and whale hunting, to the search for minerals, to the extraction of coal, to the famous polar expeditions. The relative proximity to the mainland and the relatively easy accessibility of Svalbard attracted hundreds of brave, inquisitive and enterprising people to it.

An indisputable confirmation of the role of Russia and its sons in the history of the exploration and development of Svalbard is the fact that today we see many Russian names on its geographical map. However, the very word "Russian" is very popular when designating various geographical objects - it is present in the name of a bay, river, valley, islands, etc.

Until the First World War, Svalbard remained a no man's land. But on February 9, 1920, at the Paris Peace Conference, representatives of the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway signed the Svalbard Treaty, according to which sovereignty over the archipelago was transferred to Norway. Citizens of the countries that signed the agreement were granted the right of free access to the waters of Spitsbergen, were allowed to engage in fishing and hunting, shipping, industrial and commercial operations on equal terms with Norway. The Norwegians were obliged not to create naval bases and fortifications on the archipelago.

In 1925, Norway included the archipelago in its possessions. Svalbard itself and the surrounding islands of Bely, King Charles Land, Nadezhda, which lies much to the south of Bear, as well as a number of smaller islands, the Norwegians called the Svalbard archipelago (translated from the Old Norse language - Cold Land, or Country with cold shores). Svalbard is a special administrative unit, 95% of its territory belongs to the state, and the rest - the so-called owners of the land by contract. The USSR joined the Paris Treaty on Svalbard in 1935, and in accordance with it and the Mining Charter, we conduct economic and scientific activities in the archipelago. In Russia, as, indeed, in many other countries of the world, the new name of Svalbard did not take root.

Raudfjord Svalbard, Grumant

The islands of the archipelago are bounded in the north by 81, and in the south by 74 degrees N, in the west by 10, and in the east by 35 degrees E. The area of the archipelago is about 63 thousand km2. And although it has thousands of islands, islets and just rocks, there are only five large islands - Western Svalbard, North-Eastern Land, Edge, Barents and Prince Charles Land. The archipelago is washed by the waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Greenland, Norwegian and Barents Seas.

One of the northernmost archipelagos of the Earth - Svalbard - a classic country of polar exploration. Today, this archipelago is a convenient scientific testing ground for the development of new methods and approaches in many sciences, primarily geology, geophysics, glaciology, paleogeography, ecology, biology, and archaeology. Spitsbergen is the only visa-free natural site in our time, where diversified international scientific cooperation has long been established and is fruitfully developing.

walrus, Magdalena fjord Svalbard, Grumant

GEOGRAPHY OF THE ARCHIPELAGO
Svalbard (German Spitzbergen), also Svalbard (Norwegian Svalbard), Spitsbergen (Dutch Spitsbergen), Grumant is a vast polar archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean, between 76 ° 26 "and 80 ° 50" northern latitude and 10 ° and 32° east longitude. The northernmost part of the kingdom of Norway. The administrative center is the city of Longyearbyen. The archipelago and coastal waters are a demilitarized zone.

Significant, by Arctic standards, economic activity in the archipelago, in addition to Norway, according to the special status of the archipelago, is carried out only by Russia, which has a Russian settlement on the island of Western Spitsbergen - the village of Barentsburg, as well as the mothballed villages of Piramida and Grumant.

The archipelago consists of three large islands - West Spitsbergen, Northeast Land and Edge Island; seven smaller islands - Barents Island, White Island, Prince Karl Land, Kongsoya (King's Island), Bear Island, Svensköya (Swedish Island), Wilhelm Island; as well as groups of islands, small islets and skerries (with a total area of 621 km²).

The largest islands:
Island Area (km²)
Western Svalbard 37,673
Northeast Land 14,443
Edge 5074
Barents 1288
White 682
Prince Charles Land 615
Kongsoya 191
Bear 178
Svenskoja 137
Wilhelm 120
Others (total area) 621
Total 61,022

mountain range Three Crowns Svalbard, Grumant

natural conditions
Mountain relief.
The highest point of the islands is Mount Newton (1712 m) in Western Svalbard. Glaciers occupy 35.1 thousand km² - more than half of the area of the archipelago. The coast is cut by fjords. Permafrost - layer thickness up to 200 m. Natural thawing of soils in summer ranges from 0.5 to 2.5 m.

Tundra vegetation - dwarf birch (lat. Bétula nána), polar willow (lat. Salix polaris), mosses, fungi, lichens and more than 170 species of vascular plants.

Of the mammals on the islands, only the polar bear, the Svalbard reindeer (the smallest of the reindeer species), and the arctic fox. Attempts to move other land mammals to the archipelago, in particular polar hares and musk oxen from Greenland, were unsuccessful. On the archipelago, there are an abundance of marine animals - seals, harp seals, bearded seals, walruses, beluga whales, whales. All of the listed animals (except for polar bears) are quite often found in close proximity to settlements.

There are about 90 species of birds on Svalbard, of which 36 constantly nest in the archipelago. The only species living in Svalbard all year round is the polar (white) partridge (lat. Lagopus mutus hyperboreus). The rest of the birds fly away to the southern countries for the winter, and return to the archipelago only in the spring to nest and breed.
About half of the territory is occupied by nature protection zones: 3 reserves and 3 sanctuaries.

Large deposits of high-calorific coal are estimated at 10 billion tons. A unique feature of Svalbard is also a significant number of rocks with fossilized remains of plants and animals. In 2007, a Norwegian team of paleontologists managed to discover the remains of the largest pliosaurus Pliosaurus funkei in the archipelago. The high diversity of geological rocks of the archipelago is explained by its long migration through the Earth's mantle, during which Svalbard visited different climatic zones.

The modern climate is arctic, in the west it is significantly softened by the warm Svalbard Current (part of the Gulf Stream). The average air temperature on the coast is from +4.4 °C (July) to -10 ... -14 °C (January). Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, winter temperatures in Svalbard are on average 20 degrees higher than in other places of comparable latitude. The maximum recorded temperature is +24.5 °C (July 1978), the minimum is -46.3 °C (March 1986).
The archipelago is located in a seismically active zone, earthquakes with a magnitude of 4-5 points on the Richter scale were noted, the possibility of earthquakes up to 6-7 points is expected.

Glacier Monaco Spitsbergen Islands, Grumant

Nature
National parks of Svalbard
The climate is harsh, the vegetation is not rich, the plants are low and cold-resistant. At the beginning of summer, the tundra is heavily swamped due to snowmelt, and the water level in the rivers is high. Basically, the southern part of Svalbard (zero zone) is free of snow in summer, although glaciers are found in the vicinity of all settlements. Red algae are often found on glaciers, giving the snow and ice a pinkish tint. Despite the round-the-clock polar day, the temperature difference between day and night in summer is noticeable and can reach 5-10 degrees Celsius. The first snowfalls occur in September, although snow is not uncommon at the end of August. Due to the relatively mild climate, Svalbard is also popular with tourists during the polar night, when stable snow and ice coverage makes snowmobiling possible.

Geological structure
As a rule, Caledonides participate in the structure of the archipelago. But they are more like the Caledonides of Greenland than Scandinavia. However, both are products of the Early Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean, which opened around the beginning of the Cambrian, about 550 million years ago. This ancient ocean was located in equatorial latitudes in the submeridional direction from 30° S. sh. (ancient coordinates) to the north, between the ancient continents Baltica and Canada-Greenland. Svalbard also includes more ancient rocks (Baikal folding). Apparently, this is a part of the Barents Sea Plate, which is of Proterozoic-Early Cambrian age. Most of the basement of Svalbard was formed somewhere on the active margin of the ancient Iapetus Ocean about 500 million years ago in the early Ordovician and is an island-arc igneous formation, strongly folded during the collision of the continents in the Silurian. By the beginning of the Silurian, the Iapetus Ocean began to shrink, carrying the Baltic towards Canada-Greenland, (450-440 million years ago) the British Isles, the island of Newfoundland and Svalbard, which experienced strong uplift and volcanic eruptions by the middle to the end of the Silurian. Then there was the final collision of the Baltic (Scandinavia), the British Isles, Greenland, Newfoundland and North America (Lawrence). The remains of ancient island arcs, limestones, and detrital oceanic rocks of the Iapetus Ocean were crushed and lifted up to 9,000–11,000 meters. At the point of collision of these parts of the world, a mountain range rose higher than today's Himalayas. 400 million years ago, Scandinavia was already connected to Greenland, and Svalbard was somewhere between them. The British Isles, Newfoundland and North America were also joined together. In the Late Paleozoic, granitoids were intruded in places. The current deposits of copper, chromium, nickel, titanium, iron, zinc, uranium and other metals, which are now located on the Kola Peninsula, in Scandinavia, Greenland, Svalbard, on the British Isles and on the east coast of North America, were formed precisely in that era.

Seagulls on the Lillehoek Glacier

Story
Presumably, it was first discovered by the Vikings or Pomors in the 12th century. It was known to the Pomors under the name Grumant; now this is the name of one of the mothballed Russian settlements on the islands. Since 1194, a certain Svalbard has been mentioned in Norwegian chronicles. However, there is no certainty that today's Svalbard was meant. It could be both Greenland and Jan Mayen.
In 1596, the islands were "undoubtedly" discovered and documented by the Dutchman Willem Barents, who gave the main island the name "Spitsbergen", which means "sharp mountains". Barents discovered a large number of walruses and whales on the island and in its adjacent waters, which gave rise to numerous fishing expeditions. Around the same time, the archipelago appeared on Russian maps under the name "Holy Russian Islands". A few years later, England and Denmark declared their claims to these lands.

blue whale Svalbard, Grumant

Whaling
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was used by various countries as a base for whaling, until the whales were almost completely exterminated in this region. The center of Dutch whaling since 1614 was the village of Smeerenburg. Norway, along with Iceland and Japan, continues this fishery today, despite the moratorium of the International Commission on the Regulation of Whaling and the ban on the export of whale meat.
In 1765-1766, Mikhail Lomonosov organized two marine scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen under the command of V. Ya. Chichagov, but the harsh climate did not allow the organization of permanent settlements on the archipelago, and until the beginning of the 20th century, Spitsbergen had no official Russian presence. Nevertheless, the Pomors maintained a seasonal hunting presence in the archipelago, and the most desperate of them regularly stayed for the winter.

After the decline of whaling and fur trade at the end of the 18th century, over the next hundred years Svalbard was actually abandoned and was considered terra nullius - no man's land, that is, despite the nominal claims of different countries to it, it was actually not controlled by anyone. A new wave of interest began only at the end of the 19th century, when year-round access to ports and a relatively mild climate made Svalbard the main base for polar expeditions and Arctic tourism.

Many famous explorers have visited the archipelago, including Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and Ernst Shackleton. The northern part of the island of Western Svalbard is named Andre Land, in honor of Solomon Andre, who made an attempt to reach the North Pole in a balloon in 1897. In 1912, Western Spitsbergen was also described and mapped in detail as part of the last expedition of the famous Russian Arctic explorer and pioneer of the Northern Sea Route V.A. Rusanov. Svalbard was also visited by the first Arctic tourists - wealthy Europeans, including the representative of the royal family of Monaco, Prince Albert.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the economic situation on the islands has also gradually changed. Coal mining by American, British, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish enterprises led to the establishment of permanent settlements. Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago was recognized in 1920 when the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden signed the Spitsbergen Treaty in Paris. The Norwegians were in a hurry to secure the disputed lands in the absence of their main rival, the Russian Empire, which determined the unprecedented terms of the treaty. By agreement, all countries participating in the treaty retained the right to extract and develop minerals in the archipelago. On May 7, 1935, the USSR also joined it, which by that time already had several workers' settlements on Svalbard.

Since the mid-1920s, Spitsbergen has become world famous as a base for polar aviation - for example, Roald Amundsen's flights on seaplanes with the money of the American millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth. On May 21, 1925, Amundsen leaves Svalbard for Alaska via the North Pole, but does not fly and returns to Svalbard. On May 11, 1926, the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile expedition starts from Svalbard on an airship designed by Umberto Nobile. Having flown over the Pole (piloted by the airship Nobile), the expedition landed in Alaska. Under Mussolini, Umberto Nobile, already a general and an honorary member of the ruling fascist party, on May 23, 1928, decided to repeat the flight to the North Pole. Starting from Svalbard, he reached the Pole, but on the way back the airship crashed. Amundsen, who flew out in search of Nobile, died, and the surviving crew members of the airship were saved on July 12 by the Soviet icebreaker Krasin.

During the Second World War, Svalbard could not act as a full-fledged military base, so its population was evacuated, and the presence of German troops on the archipelago was limited to weather stations thrown from aircraft and submarines, correcting the work of German aviation in the Arctic. To eliminate them in 1942, a small Norwegian detachment was abandoned in the Longyearbyen region from Scotland on two ships Isbjørn and Selis. Despite the fact that both ships were destroyed, the Norwegians managed to gain a foothold on the shore. In 1943, to destroy this detachment, the Germans sent a detachment of ships from the battleships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and nine destroyers to Svalbard, which destroyed most of Longyearbyen and Barentsburg with artillery fire (one of the coal mines set on fire at that time was extinguished only in 1960). The landing of the Germans on the coast was less successful. The Norwegians in the Barentsburg region resisted coastal artillery fire and retreated into the mountains to the village of Grumant.

Woodfjord Svalbard, Grumant

Current state
Although the Svalbard archipelago is controlled by the Kingdom of Norway and has been officially part of it since 1925, there are differences related to taxation (tax-free zone), environmental protection, protection of the rights of the local population and military activities (demilitarized zone).
There are two official languages on the islands - Norwegian and Russian; Russian citizens do not need a visa to visit the archipelago.

Coal mining in the mines is carried out by the Norwegian company Store Norske, as well as under concession by the Russian state trust Arktikugol (formerly the Soviet trust). Here (the Barentsburg mine) is the northernmost operating railway in the world, which is almost completely underground. Previously, there were several railways and they passed along the surface. All mined coal goes to heating Barentsburg itself, that is, the Russian enterprise is a planned unprofitable and partly an image project.
At present, Svalbard is one of the centers of polar and subpolar tourism; both large cruise ships from northern Europe and specialized ice-class tourist ships for excursions in the Arctic regularly stop in the port of Longyearbyen. The city has several hotels (including SAS Radisson), bars and good restaurants with arctic cuisine (for example, the Kroa restaurant "On the edge of the earth"). There is a very interesting polar museum and the Svalbard International University, and significant scientific work is being done to study climate, geology and glaciology. In summer and winter, hiking, water (kayaks and boats), snowmobile excursions and expeditions depart daily from the city.

In the 2000s, the World Seed Vault, the so-called "Doomsday Vault", was built on the island with the money of the Norwegian government. This vault contains a seed bank of both cultivated and wild plants, designed to survive even in a nuclear war. In addition, the Berget plateau is home to the SvalSAT satellite station, the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar, and the KHO aurora observatory. Svalbard is connected to the mainland by a submarine fiber optic cable, within Barentsburg, Kolesbukhta and Longyearbyen, there is a cellular connection of both Russian (MegaFon) and Norwegian operators.

city of Longyearbyen Svalbard, Grumant

Population
The population of the archipelago is about 2600 people (as of January 1, 2009). Of these, 69.9% are Norwegians, 18.3% are Russians, and 0.4% are Poles. The island has a completely visa-free regime, that is, representatives of all nations that signed the Svalbard Treaty of 1920 have the right to live and work. From a practical point of view, despite the lack of immigration and customs controls, the harsh climate and high cost of living in Longyearbyen effectively limit the labor migration of service and tourism workers. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of former employees of Arktikugol moved permanently to Longyearbyen, while the population of Russian mining towns continued to decline in proportion to the fall in coal production.

The largest settlement is Longyearbyen, about 2,000 people, most of them Norwegians. It is also the administrative center of the archipelago.

Other settlements:
Russian mining villages: Barentsburg (470 people), Pyramiden (3-4 people in winter, about 15 in summer, mostly mothballed) and Grumant (mothballed)
Norwegian International Research Center Ny-Ålesund (about 30 people, more than 100 in summer)
the Norwegian mining village of Sveagruva (90 people, with more than 300 workers from Longyearbyen)
Polish research station Hornsund (10 people).
There is also a mothballed settlement-port of Kolesbukhta, which was previously connected with Grumant by rail along the coast. At present, the road has fallen into disrepair, and the tunnel near the village of Grumant is backfilled as a result of ground movements. Spitsbergen Islands, Grumant
Religion
Longyearbyen has the only active Lutheran church with its own clergyman. In Barentsburg there is an Orthodox chapel. In the village of Hornsund there is a Polish research station, consisting of 10 people. In agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Norway, the Lutheran pastor ministers to the faithful of these churches.

Economy
Since the beginning of the 20th century, coal mining has become the basis of the economy in Svalbard. At the same time, local coal seams, as a rule, have access directly from the slope of the mountains, and many places of coal occurrence are visible to the naked eye. This geological formation resulted in numerous small mines and open cuts along the coastline that opened and closed as the seams were exhausted and explored. The size of the settlements on Svalbard usually corresponded to the thickness of the nearby coal mines.

Norway
The depletion of the main easily accessible coal deposits by the mid-1970s raised the question of the economic feasibility of the existence of Longyearbyen, which by that time had already been subsidized by the Norwegian government. The Norwegian state-owned firm Kings Bay, which owned the settlement of Ny-Ålesund, found itself in a similar position. For this reason, the Norwegian government began an active diversification of the Svalbard economy and provided the inhabitants of the archipelago with tax benefits. In addition, in 1993 the mining town of Longyearbyen was sold to the national government, which concentrated on the development of a university center and tourism.

Currently, the only large profitable mine in the archipelago is Sveagruva, which is the main source of income for Svalbard (NOK 2008 million in 2007). Coal is also mined at Mine No. 7 in Longyearbyen, providing coal to the local power plant. The second most important source of income is tourism (317 million kroons), the third is the provision of scientific activities (142 million kroons). In particular, Kings Bay provides logistical support to about 200 scientists working in Ny-Ålesund during the summer season, and is also responsible for supplying other scientific stations. The tourist business is concentrated around Longyearbyen, where tourists from mainland Norway arrive (two flights a day), as well as cruise ships. All types of business within the Norwegian settlements show stable growth. In particular, a jump in hydrocarbon prices in the late 2000s ensured record production in Sveagruv (over 4 million tons per year), and the number of cruise ship passengers increased from 20,000 in 2005 to 30,000 people in 2008.

Thus, despite the Norwegian government's significant initial investment in airport, seaport and scientific infrastructure, Svalbard is now fully self-sustaining, with an average annual income of 23% higher than the Norwegian average.

Russia
The exhaustion of the coal-bearing layer at the Pyramid mine in the 1990s put an end to the profitability of Arktikugol, which quickly turned into a subsidized resource. At the same time, the planned state expenditures for the maintenance of the trust amount to 870, 820 and 806 million rubles in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and the activity is reduced to maintaining the life of Barentsburg, which has been extracting coal only for its own consumption since 2006. Despite this, the management of Arktikugol regularly announces the imminent resumption of mining at Pyramiden or Grumant, a position supported in part by Norwegian miners. From a political point of view, an open coal mining license for a Russian enterprise facilitates the functioning of Sveagruva, often criticized by the Norwegian Green Party, which has already achieved a ban on oil production in the Svalbard region.

The village of Barentsburg itself is not of long-term tourist interest - despite frequent summer boat trips from Longyearbyen, most tourists visit the Russian settlement for no more than a couple of hours. The development of an independent tour operator infrastructure in Barentsburg and a scientific and logistics base in the Pyramid is hampered by both the lack of ground communication with the airport and the state monopoly on the use of buildings and structures of the FSUE GT Arktikugol settlements. In addition, Barentsburg does not have a repair and logistics base for basing the most demanded (small size) ice-class cruise fleet, and suitable vessels of the former Soviet scientific fleet are leased (Akademik Multanovsky, Professor Molchanov) from foreign companies, or sold to foreign companies. tour operators: Polar Pioneer - former "Akademik Shuleikin", "Akademik Shokalsky", Spirit of Enderby - former "Professor Khromov".

In the long term, the ice-free port of Barentsburg can be used as a base for servicing the Northern Sea Route, increasing the likelihood of timely provision of icebreaking support and reducing the risks associated with ice damage to ships. The development of Barentsburg in this direction is hampered by both the lack of a road to Longyearbyen and the outdated format of Russia's economic activity in the region.

polar bear, Kongsfjord Svalbard, Grumant

Tourism
The archipelago of Spitsbergen (Svalbard) is a territory of Norway and is governed by a Norwegian governor (Norwegian Sysselmannen), who sets quite strict rules for tourism. In particular, tourist helicopter excursions are prohibited on Svalbard. In addition, wild animals (including polar bears) must not be disturbed, and all lethal use of weapons is investigated by the police. Also under protection are traces of human activity earlier than 1946.

To ensure the safety of independent travel in the archipelago, tourists are required to obtain permission to go outside the zero zone (which includes Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Grumant and Pyramid), as well as have insurance and communicate using satellite phones or radio stations. The standard walking route in the zero zone is from Longyearbyen through the Adventdalen valley to Kolesbuchta, then to Grumant and back through the Bjorndalen valley. There are also hiking trails around the Isfjord and Pyramid glaciers, the transfer is made by "zodiacs" with passing tourist ships of the Barentsburg - Longyearbyen - Pyramid line.

Most polar tourists arrive in Svalbard during the polar day, from March to August. In spring, snowmobile and ski trails are most popular, while in July-August hiking expeditions are the most popular. During the polar day, the temperature in Svalbard averages about five degrees Celsius, although snowfalls are also not uncommon. In May-June, the tundra is very swampy and the main tourist routes pass through glaciers and fjords (in kayaks).

The development of Arctic cruises gave a good impetus to the hotel industry of Longyearbyen, which registered 93 thousand guests in 2008 at a fairly high cost. hotel rooms(from 120 USD). Despite the fact that there are no economy class hotels in the city, tourists can stay in a hostel or campsite right in front of the airport. There is also a hotel in Barentsburg, but it is not very popular due to the underdevelopment of the tourism industry in the village.

Weapons and hunting
Svalbard (including Longyearbyen) is on the seasonal polar bear migration route to the pack ice. Despite the fact that the probability of meeting a bear on a polar day at the 78th parallel is small, it is customary in the archipelago to carry large-caliber weapons (rifled or smooth-bore) when leaving Longyearbyen. It is also recommended to have a flare gun with you and to protect the places of overnight stay with flare mines. There are several sports shops in the city that rent weapons and ammunition to tourists. In 2009, the governor of Svalbard introduced a new rule for renting weapons, for which you must provide a certificate from the police of the country of permanent residence.
Lives in the archipelago a large number of animals (including Svalbard reindeer), however, hunting requires a license from the governor in advance. Spitsbergen Islands, Grumant

Russian projects and prospects
Despite the complete openness of the archipelago to everyone who wants to live and work, there is practically no private Russian business in Svalbard. At the same time, Russian state property is used extremely inefficiently and requires costs, both to maintain and maintain jurisdiction (Norwegian law sets a maximum period for abandonment of objects). To justify the permanent subsidies, the management of Arktikugol brought up various projects for discussion: including the resumption of coal mining in Grumant and Pyramid, the development of Barentsburg as a fishing base, etc. for example, the ground road Barentsburg - Longyearbyen, or the restoration of the Grumant - Kolesbukhta railway) are unknown.

In addition, exotic projects were periodically voiced in the Russian media: the construction of ophthalmological and balneological centers in Barentsburg (a powerful source of mineral water was discovered near the village), the extraction of semi-precious stones, the processing of fish in a factory staffed by labor migrants, the regular extraction and primary processing of algae for needs of poultry farming as a food additive in poultry feed and so on. Spitsbergen Islands, Grumant

LAND OF MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS

VISA FREE NATURAL SITE

Due to the structural features and great variety Geological formations on Spitsbergen are surrounded by rocks of different ages, from Precambrian to Quaternary, and, which is especially valuable for researchers, they are not hidden from the eyes.

In the first half of the Tertiary period, the archipelago was covered by the sea. The basins accumulated strata of sedimentary rocks with a thickness of several hundred meters. They contain the remains of fossilized marine animals and plants. At the end of the Tertiary period, the land rose and the islands were covered with broad-leaved forests, where, along with oaks, maples, ash trees, lindens and beeches, such heat-loving trees as magnolia, swampy cypress, plane tree and gigantic sequoia grew. The remains of this vegetation in the rocks testify that the climate in Svalbard was then much warmer and wetter than it is today.

About 3 million years ago, the temperature of air and water in the Northern Hemisphere dropped noticeably and the forest landscape was replaced by tundra. But glaciation spread especially widely several hundred thousand years ago. Giant ice sheets formed that reached the temperate latitudes of Europe and North America. At that time, most of Svalbard was covered with glaciers ... Millennia passed - they either retreated or advanced again. Their area has changed greatly, shrinking to modern and even smaller sizes.

Reserves of high-calorific coals in the bowels of the archipelago are estimated by Norwegian geologists at 10 billion tons. Since the 1960s, geologists from a number of countries have been actively searching for oil on the islands of the archipelago, and especially on its shelf - according to some reports, they are very promising in terms of oil and gas potential. This is also confirmed by the results of several exploratory boreholes.

On Svalbard, earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 - 5 points were noted. Seismologists admit the possibility of maximum earthquakes up to 6 - 7 points. The archipelago experiences vertical uplift of the earth's crust at a rate of about 5 mm per year. Due to this, sea terraces up to 100 meters or more were formed. Svalbard was once the scene of strong volcanic activity. In the north there are two extinct volcanoes, in the area of which hot springs and fumaroles operate. The archipelago is located in a zone of stable permafrost, interrupted only under the bottom of bays and in river valleys. The thickness of the permafrost reaches approximately 200 m. In summer, only an insignificant upper layer thaws - from 0.5 to 2.5 m.

Compared to Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, and Severnaya Zemlya to the east, Svalbard is closer to the Icelandic center of persistent low pressure. In the region of the archipelago, there is a boundary between the warm waters of the North Atlantic Current and the cold waters of the Arctic Basin. Most of the atmospheric precipitation falls in the western, southern and eastern parts of Svalbard, while the coastal strip several tens of kilometers wide is mainly moistened. While the amount of precipitation decreases sharply towards the center of the archipelago, the average air temperature in the same direction increases.

The harsh climate of the high latitudes of the Arctic is mitigated by the branch of the warm Norwegian Current, one of the branches of the Gulf Stream, running along the western coast of Svalbard. Due to its influence, the sea off the western coast of Svalbard is often ice-free even in winter, while the eastern straits are usually ice-filled in summer. In the western part of the archipelago, thaws and rains occur in the midst of winter. The highest air temperature (24.5o) was recorded in July 1978, and the lowest (-46.3o) in March 1986. It is worth mentioning that Svalbard is characterized by frequent magnetic storms, sharp drops in atmospheric pressure and air temperature , strong snowstorms.

As with any region of the Arctic, Svalbard is characterized by long polar nights and days. From October 28 to February 14, i.e. more than 100 days, the sun does not appear above the horizon. But from April 20 to August 20 - about 130 days - it does not leave the sky.

The largest island of the archipelago is Western Svalbard, its area is 39 thousand km2. It is a typical mountainous country with numerous spiky mountains and ridges. Although the mountains are not high (the highest point of the island and the archipelago Mount Newton reaches 1717 m), they are strongly dissected. In the east, the mountains turn into a plateau up to 800 m high. The western and northwestern shores of the island are indented with bays that go far into the land. The largest of them - Is-fjord and Veyde-fjord - wedged, respectively, from the west and north into the very center of the island, cutting it into two parts. The peculiarity of the western bays is that they often do not freeze until January-February and are freed from ice in May-June. To a large extent, this contributes to the establishment of a long-term maritime traffic between the mainland and the main settlements of the archipelago.

fjord Lillehoek Svalbard, Grumant

glaciation of the archipelago
An integral and characteristic feature of Spitsbergen is the extensive glaciation, the area of which exceeds 35 thousand km2. About 60% of the surface of Svalbard is encased in many meters of ice armor, which gives its nature a special beauty and attractiveness. The total ice reserve in the glaciers of the archipelago is about 7.5 thousand km3. The reserve of "solid" water, concentrated in glaciers, exceeds the annual flow of the Volga by 30 times.

Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya are part of the same glaciological province. But Svalbard is the first among them to take on the heavy rainfall brought by cyclones from the North Atlantic to the Eurasian Arctic. Thus, the glaciation of the three Russian archipelagos and Spitsbergen are interconnected. In addition, elucidation of the conditions for the existence and development of active glaciers in Svalbard is important for understanding the patterns and features of the evolution of glaciation throughout the Eurasian Arctic. Polar glacier fluctuations are well known to be a sensitive natural indicator of global climate change.

The glaciation of Spitsbergen, extremely diverse in morphology, regime and dynamics, makes it a unique glaciological object in the entire Arctic. Here, as if in a miraculous open-air museum, almost all the various types of glaciers that exist on the globe are concentrated. This diversity is due to differences in the relief and climate of the archipelago.

The main mass of glaciers covers mountain valleys and plateaus, and the height of the surface of glaciers rarely exceeds 1000 m. In winter, many glaciers have internal and subglacial runoff and periglacial icings. The presence of water lubrication stimulates the sliding of ice masses, which contributes to their mechanical instability. Ultimately, this causes a sharp regular movement (pulsation) of the glacier - surge. There are over 50 surging glaciers on Svalbard. The most unstable of them have a two-layer structure of "cold" and "warm" water-containing ice.

Of particular interest to glaciologists is the net (or Svalbard) glaciation. From the air, it may seem like a giant chessboard, where the white fields are glacial streams that have filled more than half the system of valleys of the region and are connected to each other in the upper reaches, and the black fields are separate sharp peaks and mountain ridges sticking out of the ice.

According to the nature of glaciation, the entire territory of Svalbard is divided into three large areas. The first, ice cover, is the island of North-Eastern Earth. Most (80%) of this second largest island of the archipelago is occupied by three significant ice domes (Austfonna, Vestfonna and Serfonna) with a total area of about 11 thousand km2. The volume of ice concentrated in them is 44% of the total volume of ice on the archipelago. Mountain-cover glaciation occurs on the islands of Western Svalbard, Prince Karl Land, Barents and Edge. The bulk of the glaciers of the archipelago (more than 60%) is located on the island of Western Spitsbergen. The region of mountain glaciation occupies the middle central part this island, stretching from south to north.

The practical study of the glaciers of the archipelago is caused by the need to know the features of their regime and structure when designing settlements, mines, roads, bridges, transmission lines ... This is also required to account for the valuable reserves of "solid" water, because most of the settlements of Svalbard are used for drinking and economic activity melted snow and glacial waters. Finally, the glaciers can also be considered a recreational area of the archipelago, as they are a favorite place for the islanders to ride high-speed snowmobiles - snowscooters and skis.

World War II interrupted the study of Svalbard. A new milestone in research began after the work of the International Geophysical Year (1957/58). At that time, Swedish and Polish scientific stations were operating in the North-East Land and in the south of Western Spitsbergen. However, it must be admitted that until the mid-1960s, the Svalbard glaciation remained clearly insufficiently studied. There was not even a general summary of its glaciers. Comprehensive and systematic glaciological studies carried out by the expeditions of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences on Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya and the Polar Urals suggested the need for a detailed study of the Svalbard glaciation. The first glaciological expedition to the Norwegian archipelago was organized by the Institute of Geography in 1965. Since then, 27 expeditions have been carried out. During several field seasons, glaciologists of the Institute of Geography conducted joint research on the glaciers of Svalbard with colleagues from the University of Silesia (Poland) and the Norwegian Polar Institute.

EXPEDITIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF GEOGRAPHY
Over many years of field work, the expedition members made hundreds of many kilometers of routes throughout the archipelago on foot, on skis, by boat and by helicopter. A huge cycle of studies of the internal structure, hydrodynamic regime and evolution of glaciers in connection with climate change was carried out. For the first time in the history of Svalbard, radar sounding and deep thermal well drilling with ice core sampling for various analyzes were successfully applied on glaciers.

Based on the delay time and the nature of the reflected radio signals, it is possible to determine the thickness profiles of ice and the under-ice relief, as well as to study the internal structure of the glacier. Radar studies of about 150 glaciers of various types and shapes were carried out from the helicopter. The greatest ice thickness was on the Austfonna dome (North-Eastern Land) and the Holtedal glacial plateau (north-west of Western Spitsbergen) - about 600 m. 60 wells were drilled in different ice formation zones, including 25 core holes.

The deepest wells that reached the bedrock were drilled on the Amundsen glacial plateau (southern part of Western Svalbard) and in the center of the Austfonna dome, respectively 586 and 566 m. climate change over the past millennium. It was possible to identify climate warming in the 16th century, cooling in the 17th - first half of the 19th century. ("Little Ice Age") and warming since the end of the 19th century. More than a century after the end of the "Little Ice Age" the glaciation of Svalbard is in relatively warm climatic conditions. Over the past few decades, Svalbard has been experiencing a slow cooling and, as a result, a slowdown in the retreat of glaciers ...

One of the main features of the activities of the expeditions of the Institute of Geography was the study of glacial processes throughout the archipelago in combination with stationary observations on several reference glaciers located in different regions. In 1995, together with the National Institute of Polar Research (Japan) on the Austfonna ice dome at 79o latitude. electromechanical cable core drilling was carried out and a continuous core was taken to a depth of 210 m for subsequent complex isotope-geochemical analysis. At the same time, a structural-stratigraphic description of the core, measurement of pH values and electrical conductivity of the upper horizons, well thermometry, pitting, meteorological observations and other studies were carried out.

At present, the Svalbard Glaciological Expedition is participating in the project "Mechanisms of interaction of polar glaciers with the atmosphere and ocean and the evolution of glaciation" (headed by V.M. Kotlyakov). The purpose of the project is to study the patterns and mechanisms of global and regional changes in climate and the natural environment of the Arctic, the regime and evolution of glaciers and ice sheets, the reconstruction of glaciation and climatic fluctuations over the past 20 thousand years and their forecast to identify the role of glaciation in changes in the level of the World Ocean. These works will be carried out on the basis of ice core analysis and numerical modeling in Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya. The summarized results should be included in the collective final monograph "Modern and ancient glaciation of the Arctic".

LIFE IN SPITSBERGEN

Despite the fact that more than half of the area of Svalbard is occupied by glaciers, there is a rather diverse life on the land plots located next to them. Botanists have counted more than 160 species of flowering plants here. In the short, cool summer, the surface of the rocky and marshy tundra is transformed beyond recognition in some areas. Rarely, but you can see midget trees. These are dwarf birches and willows, the height of which does not exceed ... 30, and the thickness is 2 - 3 cm. And their round leaves are no larger than lingonberries in size.

The fauna of Svalbard is not very rich. The most popular animal here, of course, is the polar bear - a powerful predator, a kind of living emblem of the archipelago. Indeed, its image can be found everywhere: on souvenirs, badges, calendars, pennants, clothes, bags, postcards, stamps ... It is interesting that the former owner of the Arctic was first described as an independent species on Svalbard more than 200 years ago by the English scientific expedition of Captain K .Phipps. The long-term polar station of the Polish Academy of Sciences, located in the south of Western Spitsbergen, is annually "visited" by 200 - 300 polar bears, which is associated with a long-established migration route. On the archipelago, many cases of entry of animals into settlements and places of basing of expeditions and tourists have been noted. Insidious attacks on people usually ended tragically. This danger should always be remembered in the Arctic.

The reindeer population is impressive in Svalbard. Until recently, hunting for him, like for a bear, was prohibited. However, now the governor issues licenses for large deer hunting. More recently, musk oxen were found on the islands, which were brought from Greenland in 1929. They acclimatized and multiplied on the archipelago. However, due to thick ice crusts on the surface, which arose as a result of alternating thaws and frosts in the 1970s and 1980s, it became extremely difficult for musk oxen to get pasture, and mass mortality of animals began. Near the villages you can see Arctic foxes, and on the sea ice - pinnipeds, mainly seals. In some places there are rookeries of huge walruses. Cetaceans enter the bays, including herds of beluga whales. Cod, haddock, halibut and other commercial fish live in coastal waters. In addition to fishing, shrimp fishing is also mastered. Charr is found in lakes and rivers, also known as Svalbard salmon.

The world of birds of Svalbard is rich. Most of them are connected with the sea. There are several dozen species of birds living on steep cliffs. Different types of gulls nest in noisy bird markets: guillemots, loons, sandpipers. The most common birds are guillemots, puffins or sea parrots. Eider is the most numerous species of ducks, it lives outside the markets, like loons and geese. Only the white partridge and snowy owl remain to winter in the archipelago. In open areas and near settlements nesting nests of aggressive long-tailed arctic terns are found. There are also very small birds from the order of passerines - snow bunting, they are the first to bring the welcome news of the imminent approach of spring from a distant mainland to the archipelago ... In order to preserve the easily vulnerable polar nature in Spitsbergen, national parks, reserves and reserves. They occupy half of the area of the archipelago.

Svalbard is the country with the longest organized tourism in the Arctic. It first arose at the end of the 19th century, when the Norwegian shipping company Vesterålen opened regular traffic on comfortable ships from Norway to the archipelago. The captain on the first of them was a famous sailor and associate of Nansen and Amundsen - Otto Sverdrup. Entrepreneurial people immediately built on the banks of the Adventfjord, where it merges with the Isfjord, a hotel with forty rooms and a post office. For lovers of polar exotics, they began to issue a special postage stamp with the image of a polar bear. But due to the high cost of rooms, tourists stopped less and less. Eventually the northernmost hotel in the world had to close.

On September 2, 1975, the King of Norway, Olav V, solemnly opened the airport on Cape Hotel (the name remains from the old hotel). Now, almost daily, mighty air liners arrive here from the mainland. With the advent of maritime navigation, tens of thousands of organized and hundreds of "wild" tourists from all over the world flock to Svalbard.

There is no permanent population on the archipelago; people come here to work for one or two years under a contract. Many of them come back again. There is a belief that a polar "bacillus" settles in a person who once got into the Arctic, infecting him with an incurable "disease" - love for nature and the exotic of the North.
In the administrative center there are offices of the coal company "Sture Noshke" and the Travel Agency of Svalbard, the Norwegian Polar Institute, the seaport, radio and television and weather stations, hotels, post office, bank, museum, hospital, shops, restaurants, cafes, a school with a swimming pool .. In 1994 Svalbard International University was opened! Dozens of cars of different brands (including taxis) scurry along the paved roads, schoolchildren ride motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles, and young mothers carry their polar babies in strollers. During the weekend, many Norwegians, being great nature lovers, rush to hikes - in the summer on boats and motor boats, and in the winter on snowmobiles and skis. Very popular are small cozy summer cottages scattered all over the nearby valleys and along the coast of the bays...

On the northwestern tip of Spitsbergen, on the 79th parallel, there is one of the most beautiful bays of the archipelago - the Kongsfjord. On the flat coast of the bay, near the pyramidal mountains and glaciers, there is a small settlement. Ny-Ålesund. Hence in 1925, 1926 and 1928. the famous expeditions of R. Amundsen, R. Byrd and W. Nobile started to the North Pole on airplanes and airships. One of the northernmost settlements on Earth, formerly better known as Kingsbay, owes its origin to the construction here in 1917 of the northernmost coal mine in the world. Due to frequent collapses and explosions of methane gas, which led to accidents, the mine was closed in 1963. Today, the monument to the memory of the dead miners, the mining museum, the old waste heap and a small engine that once dragged trolleys with coal to the port remind of this.

Nowadays, Ny-Ålesund has become the tourist and research center of Svalbard. There are scientific stations of Norway, France, Germany, England and Japan. Tourist and fishing boats often moor at the pier, and a small runway strip near the village receives local single- and twin-engine aircraft and helicopters making regular flights from Longyearbyen. On the eastern outskirts rises a 34-meter triangular openwork metal mast, to which the airships "Norway" and "Italy" moored 70 and 68 years ago. Not far from this place, on a low hill, grateful descendants erected monuments to the brave R. Amundsen and the expedition members W. Nobile, who died off the northern coast of Svalbard after returning from the North Pole. All these structures, as well as the village of Ny-Alesund itself, are silent witnesses of the heroic history of the development of the Arctic and Svalbard.

The third Norwegian settlement is located in the upper reaches of the Van Meijenfjord, a little south of Logyerbyen. In 1917, the Swedes built a mine here and named it Sveagruva - "Swedish Mine". Subsequently, the mine with a coal deposit was acquired by the Norwegians. Currently, they are mining here on a rotational basis, delivering miners from Longyearbyen by planes and helicopters. The mined coal is exported mainly to the "capital", where, after enrichment, it is sent further to the mainland.

At Cape Linnaeus, at the southernmost entrance to largest bay Is-fjord archipelago, the Norwegian weather station "Is-fjord radio" is located. It was built after the installation of a powerful lighthouse here. Now saturated with modern technology and automation, a large station is served by only three specialists and a cook!
Very close from here east coast Grönfjord, perched on several mountain terraces of the village of Barentsburg, the largest Russian coal mine in Svalbard. In 1932, the Arktikugol Trust acquired the Barentsburg land plot together with the mine from the Netherlands Svalbard company Nespiko. Already in 1936, he overtook all other Svalbard mines in coal production.

Supply of Svalbard coal to the northern regions of the USSR and its navy in the Arctic becomes quite significant before the Second World War. But the Barentsburg and Grumant mines that were then operating, as well as the Pyramid under construction, had to be closed at the beginning of the war. People were taken to the mainland. The Norwegians were also evacuated. After that, control over Spitsbergen passed for a while to the Germans. In 1942, a group of Norwegian patriots landed in Barentsburg with the aim of preventing them from using the archipelago. The Soviet mine until the autumn of 1942 served as the main base of the paratroopers. From here, radio operators transmitted weather reports to England. German bombers regularly attacked Barentsburg. In November 1942, naval guns were brought from England. One of them was installed five kilometers from the village on the eastern entrance cape in Grönfjord. On September 8, 1943, this gun took on an unequal battle with the Nazi squadron led by the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst. As a result of the attack, Barentsburg and Grumant were completely destroyed and burned. Longyearbyen and Sveagruva. After the war, they all rose from the ruins and began to produce coal again. However, the Grumant mine was closed in 1961.

At present, Russia, represented by the state trust Arktikugol, owns 26 land plots on Spitsbergen with a total area of more than 250 km2. Modern Barentsburg and "Pyramid" are highly mechanized autonomous mines. In addition to mines, they also include settlements, seaports, helicopter stations, electromechanical workshops, heating stations, car parks, television stations, subsidiary farms... Sea vessels deliver the coal mined here to the Kola Peninsula, to Arkhangelsk, as well as to Western Europe. IN last years many post-war wooden buildings in the mines gave way to three- and four-story stone houses with all amenities, and the streets and carriageways received normal coverage. Significantly improved life and such new buildings as large beautiful palaces culture with cinema halls and libraries, sport complexes with swimming pools and stadiums, local history museums hotels, cafes...

Good-neighborly relations have long been established between the inhabitants of Norwegian and Russian settlements. Miners regularly exchange various professional and tourist delegations and groups. Every year, in winter and summer, the mines host international sports competitions and amateur art concerts. Such meetings have become a pleasant tradition. It is always a notable event in harsh life islanders temporarily cut off from their homes and loved ones.

At the very beginning of the 1980s, a scientific campus was put into operation on the southern outskirts of Barentsburg. In addition to the hydrometeorological observatory, it included expeditionary bases of the Russian Academy of Sciences and geologists "Sevmorgeo" from St. Petersburg. All this contributed not only to improving the life of the northerners, but also to the intensification of scientific activity. It remains to be regretted that the situation with the funding of scientific research, including in Svalbard, has sharply worsened recently. Suffice it to say that the glaciological expedition of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1996 included, in addition to the author of the article, only one more glaciologist. I really want to believe that this is not forever. After all, Svalbard remains a unique natural laboratory for solving many urgent problems of science.

THE TOP OF EUROPE - THE MYSTERIES OF THE ARCTIC
“The crown of Europe” is often called this mountainous archipelago, lost in the icy expanses of the Arctic. Some of its islands are located beyond the eightieth degree of northern latitude. Only the north of Greenland and the Canadian island of Ellesmere are even closer to the North Pole.
In the morning fog, sailors sailing from the south to the archipelago, it seems that the contours of the towers appear from the haze. medieval castles. It is the mountain peaks of Spitsbergen, reaching 1700 meters in height, that darken through a gray veil.

But then the ship comes closer, the fog clears, and a panorama of whimsically indented black rocky coasts topped with white glaciers opens before your eyes. In places, ice tongues descend directly to the sea, breaking off with ledges of transparent blue ice. Narrow winding bays are lined with foamy stripes of waterfalls. And in the depths of the largest bay - Isfjorden - the houses of the capital of Svalbard - the village of Longyearbyen glow with bright red, green and blue cubes.

More than a thousand islands are part of the archipelago. True, almost all of them are small, only five of them deserve the epithet "large". These are Western Svalbard, Northeast Land, Edge Island, Barents Island and Prince Karl Land. Svalbard is larger in area than Switzerland and could host two Belgiums on its islands.

The archipelago has had several names since ancient times. The Dutch called it Svalbard, the Russians - Grumant, the Norwegians - Svalbard. Modern journalists often call this region the "Isles of Mist". Indeed, Svalbard is one of the most "foggy" places on Earth. Even the famous African Skeleton Coast~ namib desert and the Bering Sea, infamous for its rain and fog, cannot be compared with it in this respect. More than 90 days a year (a quarter of the year!) There are fogs over the islands. And in June-October every month there are from 12 to 20 days with fogs.
The fogs on Svalbard are so dense that you can't see anything even five paces away. Sounds are muffled, the outlines of objects are distorted, so that it is impossible to recognize even the familiar area. All buildings and large stones are covered with a fluffy brush of frost.

In the spring, during fog, one can observe an unusual optical phenomenon, which in the language of scientists is called "gloria". The low polar sun casts long shadows of objects on the veil of fog and low clouds, which are surrounded by a rainbow outline. The famous polar explorer Amundsen, who made forced landing on a plane in the ice north of Svalbard, describes Gloria as follows:
“Away from us, in the fog, I saw the full reflection of our car, surrounded by a halo of all the colors of the rainbow. The spectacle is amazing, beautiful and unique.”
From the board of the ship going to Svalbard, already from afar you can see the intricately jagged peaks of the mountains, for which he was given such a name (Svalbard - in Dutch “Sharp Mountains”). This name was given to the archipelago by the Dutch navigator Willem Barents, who discovered it in 1596. True, in fairness, it must be said that the Russian Pomors, two centuries before the Dutchman, used to go on their boats to the cold Grumant (as they called the archipelago).

One day, four Russian hunters, having landed here for hunting, the next morning did not find their ship crushed by ice. Russian Robinsons lived on Svalbard for six years before they were rescued by another Russian ship that accidentally entered the islands.
After Barents, many famous sailors and explorers visited the archipelago. Hudson and Chichagov, Nordenskiöld and Nansen, Amundsen and Rusanov laid their routes here. But the main contribution to the study of Spitsbergen, no doubt, was made by the brave coast-dwellers, who for five centuries had mastered the harsh islands. Until now, on the map of the archipelago, you can find the Russian Islands and Russkaya Bay, Mount Admiral Makarov and Cape Ermak, the Rusanov Valley and Solovetskaya Bay.

The uniqueness of the nature of Svalbard is determined by the fact that one of the branches of the warm North Atlantic current, the continuation of the Gulf Stream, approaches its western coast. The heated waters through the fjords penetrate deep into the islands and warm them. In February, the frost here does not exceed fifteen degrees, and the average annual temperature on the islands is six degrees above zero. (And this is at latitude 80!)

Therefore, the coast of the islands in summer is covered with a green carpet of tundra, full of bright colors. Purple saxifrages, yellow polar poppies, blue forget-me-nots and purple carnations delight the eyes of the inhabitants of Loggyir and other Svalbard villages: Barentsburg, Pyramiden, Ny-Ålesund, Longyearbyen and Sveagruva on a long polar day. And the snowy fields on the slopes at this time turn pink in places due to the appearance of microscopic algae on them.
The wide valleys that go high into the mountains are filled with glaciers here. Their silent, dirty white rivers slowly (usually at a speed of a meter a day, no more) move towards the sea. At the confluence of glaciers in the fjords, the ice slides into the water and breaks off. This is how icebergs are formed. In some Valleys, where glaciers end before reaching the shore, short but turbulent rivers flow from under them, the longest of which is only 48 kilometers. In winter, they all freeze to the bottom.

The mountain peaks of the islands, eroded by glaciers, take the most fantastic forms. Thus, Mount Skansen resembles an ancient fortress, Mount Tempel is an ancient Indian temple, and Mount Pyramid looks like a stack of giant neatly folded bales of hay. The most famous mountain- Tre Kruner - has three peaks. Their names: Svea, Nora and Dana - symbolize the brotherhood of three Scandinavian countries- Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The truncated pyramidal contours of the three peaks are colored with clear horizontal stripes of yellow limestone and red sandstone.
Ancient Scandinavian legends represented Svalbard as a gloomy country of cold, darkness, snow and ice. The Vikings believed that this is the most inhospitable land in the world. But it's not fair. Compared to other Arctic islands such as Ellesmere or Severnaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, Svalbard looks like a real oasis in the icy polar desert. It is inhabited by three thousand people, mostly scientists and researchers of the North and, oddly enough, miners. Coal deposits were formed here hundreds of millions of years ago, when Svalbard was one with Europe and its climate was incomparably warmer than today. Now Russian miners, in agreement with the Norwegians, are engaged in coal mining here.

But life on the islands can be found not only in human settlements. Reindeer and arctic foxes, nimble rodents-lemmings and white partridges are found here. A snowy owl circles silently over the valleys, and in the summer thousands of migratory birds fly here: ducks, geese and swans.

Most of the noise and splash on the coast. With a warm current, flocks of cod and herring, halibut and haddock come to the island, followed by seals: harp and sea hare. On the pebbly beaches under the rocks, fanged walruses arrange their rookeries, and in the open sea you can often see fountains of whales. There are still many of the latter in the waters of Spitsbergen to this day, although whaling fleets have hunted in these places since the time of the Barents and Hudson. Most of all are white whales and killer whales, but the famous narwhal unicorn is also found.
The head of this whale ends with a sharp two-meter bone outgrowth, similar to a horn. They say that Ivan the Terrible had a staff made of a beautiful, twisted narwhal horn (probably brought by Russian coast-dwellers from Grumant). The main seal hunter, the polar bear, also comes to the islands. The largest predator of the polar basin is now under the protection of the law and is not at all afraid of humans. Sometimes meetings with him end sadly for polar explorers, especially on distant islands.

And it happens that desperate radio messages like the following fly to Barentsburg or Longyearbyen from researchers working somewhere on the Prince Charles Islands: “Send a helicopter for evacuation urgently. Surrounded by nine hungry bears. Don't risk leaving the house."
The musk ox, brought here in the 1920s from Greenland, also took root in the archipelago. The herd of these mighty squat ungulates, covered with thick and long hair down to the ground, has grown noticeably in recent years, since there are no wolves on Spitsbergen, their main enemies. In severe winters, female musk oxen hide small cubs under their belly, where in any snowstorm it is warm and cozy in a canopy of wool. Now there are more than a hundred musk oxen in Svalbard, but in the beginning there were only 17.
The decoration of Svalbard is its wonderful bird colonies. Tens of thousands of kittiwakes, guillemots, guillemots, fulmars, puffins and cormorants rumble and bustle about on tiny ledges of sheer cliffs that break off to the sea. And predatory burgomaster gulls soar above the rocks, looking for prey.

There is enough fish in the sea for both seals and gulls, especially since near the western coast, even in winter, under the influence of a warm current, the border of floating ice forms a deep bend, like a bay with ice shores, facing north. In the old days it was called Kitolov's Bay, since it was here that the whaling center was located. In other winters, there is no ice at all off the western coast, and Isfjord is covered with ice cover only for a month and a half.
However, the North is the North, and from October to February polar night reigns over Svalbard. Nevertheless, the archipelago does not become a "country of eternal darkness" at this time. In clear weather, it is illuminated by the moon.
As the great polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen wrote, “instead of the sun, the delightful radiance of the moon remains: it circles the sky day and night ...”. Moonlight is reflected by myriads of snow and ice crystals and allows not only to move freely without a lantern, but also to distinguish distant mountains. It is especially bright during the full moon.

And in December-January, in frosty weather, auroras blaze in the sky. Against the backdrop of a flaming sky, light patterns of the most fantastic kind appear, continuously changing their shape and color. You can stand for hours, forgetting to put on your hat, in the bitter cold, unable to take your eyes off the amazing play of colors in the cold sky. Words are powerless to describe this truly grandiose spectacle. What a pity that at this time there are no tourists on the islands! Because of the mere opportunity to admire the celestial flashes, it would be worth coming to Svalbard in winter.

I have often had the opportunity to communicate with people who have visited this distant archipelago. And all of them could not forget its severe beauty, dazzling white mountain peaks and the blue surface of the fjords, the deafening hubbub of bird colonies and the modest charm of tundra flowers, the greenish-transparent walls of coastal glacial cliffs and the colors of the northern lights ...
And when the winterers, returning to their native land, set sail from the shore, they traditionally throw old boots into the water from the board of the ship - as a sign that someday they will return to this icy, but beautiful land.

Northeast Land

Northeast land is desert 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.

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 section. 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 18⁰ C) can serve as a natural refrigerator. Under such conditions, the seeds of cereals and legumes will be stored for thousands of years.

Norway, about Svalbard, Longyearbyen

Mount Pyramid

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. It is especially interesting and beautiful here in the spring, when there is still snow and you can ski. The movement of tourists is controlled local authorities with a mandatory entry in the journal and regular access to communication via satellite phone.

The mountain and the village are located in the southeastern part of the island of Svalbard, Norway

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. Average depth ocean is 1.225 meters, and the largest - 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.

Eastfjord

Indre Viidefjorden is a Norwegian national park located on the territory of the central-northern part of the island of Western Svalbard. It covers the southern tip of Vijdefjord, of which Austfjorden is the eastern branch.

Its feature is that it literally crashes into the island. It is a narrow, winding sea bay with rocky shores. Rocks rising from the water, covered with dense vegetation, and snowy mountain peaks - all this is Austfjorden. Its dimensions are 32 kilometers long and 4-6 kilometers wide. Geographically, the Eastfjord begins on the western side of Cape Peter Mann.

Simple tourist routes often pass through it, the purpose of which is to climb one of the peaks of the island. Both professionals and beginners who do not have special climbing skills take part in them.

The fjord is located in the Indre-Vijdefjorden National Park in Svalbard

Abandoned mining village Pyramiden

Pyramiden is an abandoned Soviet mining village located on the island of Svalbard in Norway. The settlement was built in the second half of the twentieth century near the northernmost coal mine in the world. Its population reached a thousand people. But in the nineties, coal production fell sharply and the village was mothballed.

Now the Pyramid is a ghost village that has preserved not only buildings, but also a lot of personal belongings of its inhabitants, left here as if in a hurry. The territory of the village is open to the public, but it is not recommended to enter its buildings without an escort - in order to avoid accidents. The pyramid is still the record holder for many of the northernmost things in the world - among such records are a monument to Lenin, a pool and even a piano.

The unusual disturbing and sad atmosphere of the abandoned city, as well as the extraordinarily beautiful nature surrounding the village, attracts tourists here in the summer. Especially for them, a small hotel is arranged in the village and a guide works.

Prince Carl 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.

Forlandet National Park, Svalbard

Barentsburg ***

Barentsburg is a mining town on the Norwegian island of West Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. It was named after 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.

West Spitsbergen, Barentsburg

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
"Country of mountains and glaciers" E. M. Singer.
http://vivovoco.astronet.ru/
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Russian site - Svalbard.Ru
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo I.Mikhailov, V.Balyakin, A.Vedernikov, A.Nasyrov, Mike Raifman, I.Litvak