Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen

Longyearbyen is situated on the island of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. While Longyearbyen is the world’s northernmost settlement with a permanent population of more than 1,000, Svalbard has another settlement even further north – the research station of Ny-Ålesund

Longyearbyen is situated in a valley on the shores of the idyllic Adventfjord, surrounded by steep mountains and several glaciers. There are only around 40 km of roads in Longyearbyen, which is divided into several “suburbs”, including the town centre and Nybyen (new town). Most of the hotels, restaurants, pubs and shops are in the town centre. Nybyen, which is located 2 km south of town, consists of charming miners’ barracks constructed after the war, as well as guest houses, a restaurant and a gallery.

What do the locals at Svalbard live by?

Longyearbyen exists because of the coal in the mountains, and has been built by the mining industry over the past century. Longyearbyen was a typical mining town up to 1990, but has now evolved into a town with a varied business community. Mining remains one of the main industries, but owing to falling coal prices in recent years the mining operations have been scaled down. The State-owned mining company, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani, still operates a coal mine near Longyearbyen, Mine 7, up the valley of Adventdalen.

After the 1990s, tourism has slowly but surely become a major industry in Longyearbyen, and is now one of the main pillars of society. In 2016, 115,000 tourists visited Longyearbyen, of which 35,000 arrived by cruise ship from overseas.

Research and education is another important industry. Students from all over the world come to study at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), which focuses on Arctic research in the fields of biology, geology, geophysics and technology. Longyearbyen also has support functions every community is reliant on, such as a hospital, school, kindergartens, sports hall, church and cultural centre.