Svalbard

Svalbard, formerly Spitsbergen, archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, about midway between Norway and the North Pole, and belonging to Norway. It comprises all lands between latitude 74° North and latitude 81° North and between longitude 10° East and longitude 35° East. The principal islands are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya, Kong Karls Land, Prins Karls Forland, and Bjørnøya. Coal mining is the major industry. The islands appeared in early Norwegian stories and they were rediscovered by a Dutch expedition under the navigator Willem Barents in 1596. No settlements were founded until after the Norwegians began mining coal here in the 1890s. In 1920, Norway's claim to the islands was formally recognized. Russia has mining rights and maintains settlements in Svalbard. Area, 62,000 sq km (24,000 sq mi); population (1991) 3,309.