Svalbard Geography - 2024

Location

Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway

Geographic coordinates

78 00 N, 20 00 E

Map references

Arctic Region

Area

total: 62,045 sq km

land: 62,045 sq km

water: 0 sq km

note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries

total: 0 km

Coastline

3,587 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

continental shelf: extends to depth of exploitation

exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

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

Terrain

rugged mountains; much of the upland areas are ice covered; west coast clear of ice about half the year; fjords along west and north coasts

Elevation

highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m

lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m

Natural resources

coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish

Land use

agricultural land: 0% (2018 est.)

other: 100% (2018 est.)

Population distribution

the small population is primarily concentrated on the island of Spitsbergen in a handful of settlements on the south side of the Isfjorden, with Longyearbyen being the largest

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

Geography - note

northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government