Svalbard is a Norwegian group of islands located in the Arctic Ocean north of continental Norway, about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) from the North Pole. It is the northernmost year-round settlement on Earth, with a population of about 2,200. Recently, Svalbard has been trying to move its economy more toward tourism and scientific research, and away from coal mining, which supported much of the economy since the early 20th century. Tourist visits to Svalbard have been steadily rising, with amazing views and abundant wildlife—especially the polar bears—drawing visitors from around the world.
Svalbard: Halfway Between Norway and the North Pole
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Read moreA polar bear feeds on a seal carcass in Svalbard, Norway, on July 28, 2013. #
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Read moreThe setting sun shines on the peak of the “Tre Kroner” at the Kongsfjorden glacier in Ny-Alesund on Spitsbergen, Norway, on April 9, 2015. #
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Read moreRemains of a wooden shack in Svalbard on August 7, 2013. #
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Read moreA reindeer photographed in Svalbard on July 25, 2011. #
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Read moreColourful huts during Midsummer on June 21, 2008, in Longyearbyen, Norway. #
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Read moreA total solar eclipse is seen in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, on March 20, 2015. #
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Read moreAlexander Romanovskiy, the Russian guard of the abandoned Russian mining settlement of Pyramiden, poses on July 19, 2015, in Pyramiden, on the Svalbard archipelago. Pyramiden was bought by the Soviet Union in 1927 from the Swedish founders of the coal mine, and abandoned in 1998 after the mine's closure. It once housed 1,200 Russians and had hospital, a sports and culture center, and a movie theater. With much of its infrastructure still in place, efforts have been made since 2007 to make it a tourist attraction. #
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Read moreA historical wooden mining cableway for transporting coal near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, on August 21, 2012. #
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Read moreA bust of Vladimir Lenin stands in the abandoned Russian mining settlement of Pyramiden, in Svalbard, on July 19, 2015. #
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Read moreA view of the Kronebreen Glacier, on the Spitsbergen island, Svalbard, on July 23, 2015. #
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Read moreAn Arctic fox rests on the tundra near the entrance to its den on a summer day in Svalbard, July 25, 2011. #
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Read moreSteep cliffs filled with nesting birds on the south side of Bjornoya (Bear Island), Svalbard, Norway, #
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Read moreBeluga Whale bones piled along Bellsund, a sound on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, on August 3, 2013. #
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Read moreThe scientific base of Ny Alesund in the Svalbard archipelago, on July 20, 2015. #
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Read moreCoal trucks and a locomotive preserved as a monument in Ny Alesund, Svalbard. #
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Read moreAn abandoned mountainside coal mine in Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, on July 15, 2013. #
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Read moreA young walrus bull underwater, along Spitsbergen and the northwest coast of the Svalbard Archipelago, on July 17, 2011. #
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Read moreA view of Nordenskiold Glacier, on Spitsbergen island, Svalbard, on July 19, 2015. #
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Read moreA polar bear investigates the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Endeavour, operating in Svalbard, Norway, on July 8, 2010. #
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Read moreMidnight sun reflects off the face of ridges on the West Coast of Spitsbergen on the morning of midsummer on June 21, 2008, in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. #
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Read moreSnow blows off the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before being inaugurated at sunrise on February 26, 2008. The “doomsday” seed vault built to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars, and natural disasters opened deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Starting with 200,000 samples when it opened, the vault has the capacity for around 4.5 million bar-coded seed samples in all. #
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Read moreRadar dish and antennas systems at the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association facility on Breinosa, Svalbard, in Norway, on October 24, 2015. #
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Read moreIsfjorden fjord on Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard, on August 8, 2013. #
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Read moreA polar bear shakes its head while swimming along the coastline near Sallyhamna (Sally Bay) on a summer day in Svalbard, on July 8, 2011. #
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Read moreThe mining outpost of Barentsburg, shown September 18, 1997, on Norway's remote Svalbard islands. The Soviet Union (later Russia) has been operating the mines here since 1932. Currently it is home to around 500 residents, almost entirely Russian and Ukrainian. #
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Read moreA wrecked boat sits on a beach near an abandoned mine named Skansbukta, along the Billefjorden, about 20 miles from Longyearbyen, on June 25, 2006. #
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Read moreA sign warns of polar bears outside Longyearbyen, Svalbard, on February 25, 2008. #
John McConnico / AP
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