territorial sea: 4 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but
not recognized by Russia

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:
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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m

Natural resources:
coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (no trees, and the only bushes are crowberry and
cloudberry) (2001)

Irrigated land:
NA sq km

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

Environment - current issues:
NA

Geography - note:
northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main
islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area

People Svalbard

Population:
2,701 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Population growth rate:
-0.02% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
NA births/1,000 population

Death rate:
NA deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate:
NA migrant(s)/1,000 population

Sex ratio:
NA%

Infant mortality rate:
total: NA
male: NA
female: NA

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: NA years
male: NA years
female: NA years

Total fertility rate:
NA children born/woman

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0% (2001)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
0 (2001)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
0 (2001)

Ethnic groups:
Norwegian 55.4%, Russian and Ukrainian 44.3%, other 0.3% (1998)

Languages:
Norwegian, Russian

Literacy:
NA

Government Svalbard

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as
Spitzbergen)

Dependency status:
territory of Norway; administered by the Polar Department of the
Ministry of Justice, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in
Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty
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