| Geography | Svalbard |
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Location:
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Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway |
Geographic coordinates:
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78 00 N, 20 00 E |
Map references:
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Arctic Region |
Area:
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total: 61,020 sq km
land: 61,020 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) |
Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than West Virginia |
Land boundaries:
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0 km |
Coastline:
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3,587 km |
Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 4 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia |
Climate:
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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:
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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:
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lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m |
Natural resources:
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coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish |
Land use:
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arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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NA |
Total renewable water resources:
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void |
Total renewable water resources - per capita:
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void |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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void |
Natural hazards:
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ice floes often block 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:
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NA |
Environment - international agreements:
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void |
Geography - note:
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northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government |
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