Barentsburg () is the second-largest settlement in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, with about 455 inhabitants (). A

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

town, the settlement was almost entirely made up of Russian and Ukrainian nationals.

History

Rijpsburg, a now abandoned Dutch settlement on

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

on Cape Boheman (

Bohemanflya Bohemanflya ("Boheman peninsula") is a peninsula on the northwestern side of Isfjorden, in Oscar II Land on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after Swedish entomologist Carl Henrik Boheman. The peninsula has a length of about and a width o ...

), at the north site of Nordfjorden in the Isfjord, stood roughly diagonally opposite

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

. The

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

-based Van der Eb and Dresselhuys Scheepvaartmaatschappij (navigation company) built it in 1920, using prefabricated huts, for the mining of coal. Twelve Dutch staff and 52 German miners started mining coal here that year. The Dutch Spitsbergen Company, founded in 1920, bought a mine in Green Harbour from the Russians and mined coal from 1921 to 1926. The company renamed its settlement Barentsburg after the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz. In 1932 the company sold the mine, including its settlement Barentsburg, to the Soviet trust Arktikugol.

2006 fire

On October 17, 2006, Norwegian inspectors detected a smouldering underground fire in Barentsburg, prompting fears that an open fire might break out, which would have forced the total evacuation of Barentsburg for an indefinite period of time, and would also have caused environmental problems of unknown magnitude for the entire archipelago. The fire was later contained. Coal mining resumed at the end of 2010.

Status

Under the terms of the

Svalbard Treaty The Svalbard Treaty (originally the Spitsbergen Treaty) recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and no ...

of 1920, citizens of signatory countries have equal rights to exploit natural resources, and as a result Russia, along with

(via the Sveagruva mine and Mine 7), maintains mining operations on

. However, as Svalbard is under Norwegian sovereignty, the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

is represented in Barentsburg by a

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

. Consequently, the town has a Norwegian postcode, 9178. Similarly, it uses Norwegian telephone numbering.Consulate General in Barentsburg (Spitsbergen)
/ref> In 2022, Russia announced new investment plans to support its presence in Barentsburg and Pyramiden. Then, in 2023, amid continuing tensions around Russia's war in Ukraine, the Russian Consulate General and Arktikugol staged a May 9 Day victory parade through Barentsburg consisting of 50 cars, snowmobiles, trucks and buses and also including a low-flying Mi-8 helicopter. While the Governor of Svalbard, Lars Fause, was reportedly invited to attend, he declined.

Economy

Barentsburg started as a Dutch mining town in the 1920s. In 1932 the Dutch sold their concession to the Soviet Union. Since 1932 the Russian state-owned Arktikugol (Russian for "arctic coal") trust has been operating on Svalbard and the main economic activity in Barentsburg is

by Arktikugol. The coal is usually exported to Northern European buyers. The town relies entirely on mainland Russia for food and coinage. There have been instances in which not enough food was sent, and aid packages were sent from Longyearbyen. Tourism is now being developed, but does not yet generate enough income to revive the town. Prior to 2022, the majority of workers and inhabitants were Russians and Ukrainians. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the economy of Barentsburg has been in steady decline, and population, which once numbered around a thousand, has decreased drastically. Amid the warming waters, Russia has said it intends to build a facility in Barentsburg to process fish for export.

Transportation

The distance from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg is about but there are no roads connecting the two settlements. Most contact between the two is by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

, or

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. There is a heliport ( ICAO code ENBA) with a road connection at Heerodden (), north of Barentsburg. The port is located in the middle of Barentsburg. Tourists usually arrive via a 2-3-hour boat trip from Longyearbyen. The coal is freighted by ship.

Climate

Barentsburg features a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(''ETs'' under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

), with short, dry, chilly summers and long, very cold, snowy winters, though winters there are noticeably warmer than winters in a number of locations with tundra climates. Because the town is located at a latitude approaching 80 degrees, only four months of the year have average temperatures above freezing, and in no month does the average monthly temperature exceed , meaning it is north of the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

. Average low temperatures during the winter routinely drop below . Barentsburg averages roughly of precipitation, much of which falls as

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

. The town typically experiences snowfall in every month of the year.

Science and culture

The Barentsburg Pomor Museum presents Pomor culture, Arctic flora and fauna, and archaeological objects preserved in the

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

. It is open when the daily, summer-only boat from Longyearbyen arrives, and by special arrangement. There is an athletic complex, including a swimming pool with heated seawater. Every summer, several dozen geophysicists, geologists, archaeologists, biologists, glaciologists, geographers, etc., from Russia and elsewhere work in the scientific research centre. There is also a year-round meteorological observatory and the northernmost cosmic rays station.

Education

Barentsburg has its own school serving the Russian community; in 2014 it had three teachers, with one for most subjects, one for music, and one for the English language. By 2014, its welfare funds had declined.

Notes

References

''The Economist'': Arctic Norway - The Big Chill

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, December 25, 2006 {{authority control Norway–Soviet Union relations Populated places in Svalbard Populated places established in the 1920s 1920s establishments in Norway Norway–Russia relations Ethnic enclaves in Norway Company towns in Norway Pomors Russian diaspora in Norway Ukrainian diaspora in Europe