HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN EXPEDITION IN SVALBARD
Your Guide to Exploring the High ArcticImagine standing on the deck of a small expedition ship,...
Svalbard, an extraordinary archipelago almost halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, offers breathtaking landscapes and exceptional wildlife. Adventurers, scientists and curious travellers from around the world are drawn to this place, and a small number of people live here all year round.
We have gathered 10 facts (+1) you may not know about this unique place.
Svalbard lies well beyond the Arctic Circle, between Norway and the North Pole.
Here, the meaning of “north” changes completely: you really are at the edge of the world. The archipelago stretches between 74° and 81° north latitude. Its capital, Longyearbyen, is located at 78°13’N.
The familiar idea of six months of darkness and six months of daylight applies only at the North Pole, but Svalbard comes very close. In summer, the sun never sets. From approximately 20 April to 22 August, it remains above the horizon, creating the phenomenon known as the “midnight sun” and giving us 24 hours of uninterrupted daylight. In winter, from mid-October to mid-February, the polar night arrives: entire months without direct sunlight. This unique phenomenon gives the islands a distinctive, mystical atmosphere for visitors.
Yet it is precisely this “unusual” light that makes everything so remarkably photogenic.
Polar bears outnumber humans in Svalbard. This is a myth that needs debunking.
The Svalbard Islands have around 2,800 residents. There are approximately 350 pelagic polar bears (those living in Svalbard’s territory). If we also include the bears in the Barents Sea region and on the Arctic sea ice, however, the total exceeds 3,000.
Always look at the data rather than relying on appearances.
There are very few human settlements in Svalbard: Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Ny-Ålesund and Pyramiden.
There are no roads between towns. To travel between settlements, you can only use snowmobiles in winter and boats in summer.
Infrastructure is sparse. You can rely only on yourself. Setting out unprepared can be costly.
Just nature, ice and silence.
Svalbard’s special legislation requires anyone leaving a human settlement to carry a firearm in case of a possible encounter with a polar bear.
It may sound like a scene from an old Western film, but the chances, however remote, are never zero.
As surprising as it may sound, pregnant women in Svalbard are required to leave the archipelago at least three weeks before their due date. The hospital in Longyearbyen does not have a neonatal unit, so the final weeks of pregnancy must be spent on the mainland, with expenses covered by the state.
We cannot choose when we are born or when we die, but one thing is true: Svalbard’s frozen ground, or permafrost, prevents bodies from decomposing, so burial is not possible.
For this reason, burials have not taken place in the archipelago for decades.
The Arctic climate, permafrost and rugged terrain mean that vegetation covers less than 10% of the land. Nevertheless, during the short but intense summer, everything from hardy mosses and lichens to small flowering plants grows here.
Svalbard is home to 164 native plant species, as well as some introduced by humans.
Which animals can you encounter in Svalbard? Even months would not be enough to see them all. Here is a short list of some of the most common:
Svalbard is more than a trip.
It is an experience that puts things into perspective, slows you down and helps you see the world differently.
Svalbard is cold, remote, unpredictable and often inhospitable.
It requires adaptability, an open mind and a little spirit of adventure.
But if you feel this place calling you…
it is probably because this is the right journey for you.
There are no cats or other felines in Svalbard. They are banned because they pose a threat to the fragile bird populations.
The archipelago’s last and only cat was called Kesha. He lived in Barentsburg, the islands’ second-largest settlement, and became a local celebrity after being smuggled in by Russian miners, who declared him to be an Arctic fox in the paperwork. Kesha died of old age in February 2021.
