Svalbard
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Introduction - Svalbard: | Location - Svalbard: | 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: 61,020 sq km
land: 61,020 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) | | Area comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | | Land boundaries | 0 km | | Coastline | 3,587 km | | Maritime claims | 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; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005) | | Irrigated land | NA | | 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; site of future seed repository under construction by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government | |
People - Svalbard: | Government - Svalbard: | Economy - Svalbard: | Communications - Svalbard: | Transportation - Svalbard: | Military - Svalbard: |
This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007 Source: CIA >>> |