Svalbard
Pre Arrival:
Overview
General Information for Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Geo-political:
Capital City: Longyearbyen.
Population: 2,116.
Communications:
International Direct Dial Code: 47-790.
Number of Internal Airports: 1.
Major Languages Spoken: Norwegian, Russian.
Economy:
Currency: 1 Norwegian Krone (NOK) of 100 Oere.
Exchange Rates:
(as of March 2018)
USD 1.00 = NOK 7.74
NOK 1.00 = USD 0.13
Exchange rates under licence from
XE.com
Environment:
Territorial Sea: 4 n.m.
Other Maritime Claims: Exclusive Fishing Zone: 200 n.m. unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized
by Russia.
Coastline Extent: 3,587 km.
Climate: Arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North
Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open
and navigable most of the year.
Natural Resources: Coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife and fish.
Natural Hazards: Ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on
the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible
to maritime traffic.
Terrain: Wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about
one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts.
OVERVIEW:
Svalbard and Jan Mayen:
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, situated north of mainland
Europe, about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole. The largest island
in Svalbard is Spitsbergen, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeoya.
Svalbard is under the full sovereignty of Norway, but is subject to the special status
granted by the Svalbard Treaty; the archipelago is not part of any Norwegian county,
but forms an unincorporated area administered by a governor appointed by the Norwegian
government.
Jan Mayen is a remote island in the Arctic Ocean; it has no permanent population and
is administered by the County Governor of Nordland, a county in mainland northern
Norway.
While not administratively related, Svalbard and Jan Mayen have been assigned the
ISO code SJ.
