Where Is Svalbard?

Svalbard is a group of islands located between 74° and 81° north latitude in the Arctic Ocean, about 1,300 km north of mainland Norway and roughly 1,000 km from the North Pole. The largest island, Spitsbergen, hosts the main settlement of Longyearbyen (population about 2,400), one of the world northernmost permanent communities. Svalbard experiences polar night (no sun) from November to February and midnight sun from April to August. About 60% of the archipelago is covered by glaciers. It is home to more polar bears than people (about 3,000 bears versus 2,900 residents) and is famous for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which stores backup copies of the world crop seeds.