Geography of 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:
62,049 km²
land:
62,049 km²
water:
0 km²
note:
includes Spitsbergen and Bjørnøya (Bear Island)
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
3,587 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia
territorial sea:
4 nm
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:
coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc, wildlife, fish
Land use:
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
0%
forests and woodland:
0%
other:
100% (no trees and the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry)
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Natural hazards:
ice floes often block up the entrance to glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area
See also: Svalbard
