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: 62,049 sq km
land: 62,049 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
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: Newtontoppen 1,717 m

Natural resources 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 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

Environment - international agreements
party to: NA
signed, but not ratified: NA

Geography - note northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area

NOTE: The information regarding Svalbard on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Svalbard Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Svalbard Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.