Sveagruva (), or simply Svea, was a mining settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group rang ...

, lying at the head of

Van Mijenfjord Van Mijenfjorden is the third-longest fjord in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. It lies in the southern portion of Spitsbergen island, south of Nordenskiöld Land and north of Nathorst Land. The fjord is long, being separated from Bellsund furthe ...

. It was the third largest settlement in the archipelago (after

Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, locally �lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...

and Barentsburg). Around 300 workers living in Longyearbyen commuted to Sveagruva for work on a daily or weekly basis. The mine was operated by

Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK), or simply Store Norske, is a Norwegian coal mining company based on the Svalbard archipelago. It was formed in 1916, after a Norwegian purchase of the American Arctic Coal Company (ACC). The company ...

. There is no road to Longyearbyen or any other settlements, so travel is done by air from

Svea Airport Svea Airport ( no, Svea flyplass; ) is a private airport located in and serving the Sveagruva (also known as Svea) in Svalbard, Norway. The airport is owned and operated by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani, who use the airport to transport thei ...

and coal transport by ship from a port southwest. Sveagruva closed in 2017 and currently has no permanent inhabitants.

History

The town was established in 1917 by Swedes. It was thereafter destroyed in 1944, but quickly re-established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The mining activity ceased in 1949, and was not re-established until 1970. Mining was suspended for a short period in 1987. In the 1990s, the town nearly vanished, as mines in Longyearbyen proved more productive and accessible. In 2005, a mine fire erupted, lasting uninterrupted for more than five weeks, and causing 700 million Norwegian kroner worth of damage. Sveagruva held the most productive coal mine of Svalbard, the Svea Nord longwall mine. Opened in 2001, the mine produced up to 4 million metric tons of coal annually, making it one of the largest underground coal mines in Europe. The mine closed for good in March 2020. Sveagruva closed in 2017 due to economic conditions.

Weather and Climate

References

{{authority control Barents Sea Company towns in Norway Populated places in Svalbard Populated places established in 1917 1917 establishments in Norway Spitsbergen