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Svalbard,previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen,is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe,it lies about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range from 74°to 81°north latitude,and from 10°to 35°east longitude. The largest island is Spitsbergen,followed in size by Nordaustlandet,Edgeøya and Barentsøya. Bjørnøya or Bear Island is the most southerly island in the territory,situated some 147 km south of Spitsbergen. Other small islands in the group include Hopen to the southeast of Edgeøya,Kongsøya and Svenskøya in the east,and Kvitøya to the northeast. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen,situated in Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen.
Spitsbergen is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway in the Arctic Ocean.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen is a statistical designation defined by ISO 3166-1 for a collective grouping of two remote jurisdictions of Norway:Svalbard and Jan Mayen. While the two are combined for the purposes of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) category,they are not administratively related. This has further resulted in the country code top-level domain .sj being issued for Svalbard and Jan Mayen,and ISO 3166-2:SJ. The United Nations Statistics Division also uses this code,but has named it the Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands.
Longyearbyen is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000,and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard,Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank of the Longyear Valley and on the shore of Adventfjorden,the short estuary leading into Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen,the island's broadest inlet. As of 2002 Longyearbyen Community Council became an official Norwegian municipality. It is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. As of 2024,the town's mayor is Leif Terje Aunevik.
The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security is a Norwegian government ministry that oversees justice,the police,and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the ministry is to provide for the maintenance and development of the basic rule of law. An overriding objective is to ensure the security of society and of individual citizens. The ministry was founded in 1818 and currently employs about 400 people in the central government department. Its subordinate agencies include the Norwegian Police Service,the Norwegian Correctional Service,the Norwegian Police Security Service,the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority,the Judiciary of Norway,and the Directorate of Immigration,and employ around 30,000 people. The Ministry of Justice of Norway oversees the administration of justice in Svalbard.
The governor of Svalbard represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen).
Svalbard lies under the sovereignty of Norway,but the Svalbard Treaty places several restrictions. Norway cannot use the archipelago for warlike purposes,cannot discriminate economic activity based on nationality and is required to conserve the natural environment. Uniquely,Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone. Everybody may live and work in Svalbard indefinitely regardless of country of citizenship. Svalbard Treaty grants treaty nationals equal right of abode as Norwegian nationals. Non-treaty nationals may live and work indefinitely visa-free as well. "Regulations concerning rejection and expulsion from Svalbard" is in force on non-discriminatory basis.
In Norway,the Minister of Justice and Public Security is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. The current minister is Emilie Enger Mehl.
Per Ottar Sefland is a previous Governor of Svalbard. He served from 1 October 2005 to 16 September 2009.
Elisabeth Vik Aspaker is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party and she is the current county governor of Troms og Finnmark county. She was also the Minister of European Affairs from 2015 to 2016 and Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2013 to 2016. From 2013 to 2015,she also served as Minister of Fisheries.
The Norwegian Police Service is the Norwegian national civilian police agency. The service dates to the 13th century when the first sheriffs were appointed,and the current structure established in 2003. It comprises a central National Police Directorate,seven specialty agencies and twelve police districts. The government agency is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and has 16,000 employees,of which 8,000 are police officers. In addition to police powers,the service is responsible for border control,certain civil duties,coordinating search and rescue operations,counterterrorism,highway patrolling,writ of execution,criminal investigation and prosecution. The directorate is led by National Police Commissioner Marie Benedicte Bjørnland.
Sven Ole Fagernæs is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant who was Attorney General of Norway from 1993 to 2015.
Odd Olsen Ingerø is a Norwegian civil servant and former Governor of Svalbard.
Morten Ruud is a Norwegian civil servant.
Leif Thomas Eldring was a Norwegian judge and civil servant.
ISO 3166-2:SJ is the entry for Svalbard and Jan Mayen in ISO 3166-2,part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard defines codes for names of principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. Svalbard and Jan Mayen does not exist as an administrative region,but rather consists of two separate parts of Norway under separate jurisdictions—Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Further subdivision for Svalbard and Jan Mayen occurs under Norway's entry,ISO 3166-2:NO,namely NO-21 for Svalbard and NO-22 for Jan Mayen. There are currently no ISO 3166-2 codes for Svalbard and Jan Mayen.
The economy of Svalbard is dominated by coal mining,tourism and research. In 2007,there were 484 people working in the mining sector,211 people working in the tourism sector and 111 people working in the education sector. The same year,mining gave a revenue of 2.008 billion kr,tourism NOK 317 million and research 142 million. In 2006,the average income for economically active people was NOK 494,700,or 23% higher than on the mainland. Almost all housing is owned by the various employers and institutions and rented to their employees;there are only a few privately owned houses,most of which are recreational cabins. Because of this,it is nearly impossible to live on Svalbard without working for an established institution. The Spitsbergen Treaty and Svalbard Act established Svalbard as an economic free zone and demilitarized zone in 1925.
Cannabis in Svalbard is illegal. Practically functioning as ungoverned terra nullius prior to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920,the Arctic Ocean archipelago dominated by glaciers and barren rock,is part of Norway,and hence Norwegian law applies. Under it,there is a sliding scale approach to cannabis legislation. Possession for personal use,defined as up to 15 grams,is punished with a fine of between roughly 1,500 and 15,000 Norwegian kroner. Possession of amounts larger than that is punished by jail,ranging from 6 months all the way up to 21 years. These laws are enforced by the Norwegian Police Service,the small Svalbard district of which is run by the Governor of Svalbard.
Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam is a British lawyer and civil servant who has served as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands since 29 June 2023. She served as Governor of Anguilla between 2021 and 2023.
Lars Fause is a Norwegian prosecutor and civil servant serving as the governor of Svalbard since 2021.
References
- ↑ The current Governor,Governor of Svalbard's website,visited 19 May 2020.
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