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 and Edgeøya. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen on the west coast of Spitsbergen.
Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago. The island is located at the limits of the Norwegian and Barents seas, approximately halfway between Spitsbergen and the North Cape. Bear Island was discovered by Dutch explorers Willem Barentsz and Jacob van Heemskerck on 10 June 1596. It was named after a polar bear that was seen swimming nearby. The island was considered terra nullius until the Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 placed it under Norwegian sovereignty.
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. The town's mayor is Arild Olsen.
Atle Antonsen is a Norwegian comedian and actor.
Ashlad is a main character in a number of tales collected in Asbjørnsen and Moe's Norwegian Folktales.
Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan, Åfjord, Ørland, Indre Fosen, Orkland, Heim, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow areas, and in the interior mountains reaching up to 675 m elevation. The western coast has many skerries and some islands, such as Stokkøya in Åfjord. There are some good salmon rivers, and sea eagles and other sea birds are very common along the coast, notably on the shallow area near Ørland (Grandefjæra). The west coast has mild winters, and some locations receive on average more than 2,000 mm of precipitation per year. Part of the Scandinavian coastal conifer forests are located in the valleys of the peninsula, and smaller areas are classified as temperate rainforest with 67 nature reserves. The largest nature reserve is Øyenskavelen, with many nature types including undisturbed forest, some of it classified as rainforest.
Svea Airport was a private airport located in and serving the Sveagruva in Svalbard, Norway. The airport was owned and operated by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani, who used the airport to transport their coal mining workers from the company town to Longyearbyen and Svalbard Airport, Longyear. The airport featured a gravel runway measuring 800 by 30 meters. Flights were operated about thirty times per week by Lufttransport using their two Dornier 228s. The airport was closed on August 1, 2022.
The 1954 Bjørnøya Consolidated PBY Catalina crash was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) of a Consolidated PBY Catalina on the island of Bjørnøya in Svalbard, Norway, on 28 March 1954 at ca. 15:00. The Royal Norwegian Air Force aircraft of No. 333 Squadron RNoAF was conducting a postal drop flight from Tromsø to five settlements on Svalbard, including Bjørnøya Radio, making a low pass over Bjørnøya at a height of 40 meters (130 ft) before crashing into the ground. Only one of the nine on board survived.
Cecilie Myrseth is a Norwegian psychologist and politician for the Labour Party. She is currently the minister of trade and industry since 2024. She also served as minister of fisheries between 2023 and 2024. She is also a member of the Storting for Troms since 2017, and previously chaired the Troms county cabinet from 2015 to 2017.
Sailing La Vagabonde is a YouTube channel run by Australian video bloggers Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu along with their children Lenny and Darwin. The channel documents the couple's life aboard their sailing tri-maran La Vagabonde. As of July 2023, the channel had over 1.85 million subscribers and is the most popular sailing YouTube channel. In November 2019, they received significant media attention for sailing Greta Thunberg onboard La Vagabonde from Virginia to Lisbon for the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid.
Tunheim is an abandoned coal mining village on Bear Island, Svalbard, Norway. It lies in the northeast of the Island, a few kilometers east of the Bjørnøya Radio Station, & directly adjacent to Kapp Bergersen. To its south is Miseryfjellet, the tallest mountain on Bear Island.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Svalbard is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Svalbard on 6 October 2021.
On 13 October 2021, a man attacked eight people with various weapons – including a bow and arrow – at locations in Kongsberg, Buskerud, Norway, a town about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of the capital city Oslo. Five people were killed, and three others were injured. The accused, identified as Espen Andersen Bråthen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen born in Norway and with a history of mental illness, was taken into custody on the same day and charged with murder. Although he pleaded guilty, in June 2022, a court determined his mental illness meant he could not be held criminally responsible for his actions, and he was sentenced to psychiatric confinement.
Tor Eckhoff, also known as Apetor, was a Norwegian YouTuber known primarily for his videos where he drank vodka while performing daring activities on frozen waters, like ice skating, swimming in ice holes and diving. He died in 2021 after he fell through the ice of a lake west of Kongsberg, Norway, while recording a video. At the time of his death, he worked at a paint factory in Sandefjord run by the chemicals company Jotun.
"Silent Storm" is a song by Norwegian singer and songwriter Carl Espen, released as a single on 18 February 2014. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark after winning Melodi Grand Prix 2014, Norway's national selection for the event. It placed sixth in the semi-final with 77 points and finished in eighth place in the grand final with 88 points overall.
Lucas Lira Soares, is a Brazilian YouTuber, businessperson, and influencer. He gained popularity through his vlogs on the YouTube channel Invento na Hora, where he showcases his daily life with humor, often featuring his partner and child.
Holly Martin is a solo sailor and sailing vlogger best known for sailing her 27-foot sloop Gecko as part of her YouTube channel Wind Hippie Sailing.
James Frederick is a solo sailor and sailing vlogger best known for sailing his 1965 Alberg 30 Triteia as part of his YouTube channel Sailing Triteia. Frederick was raised in New Mexico and dropped out of school at the age of 16. In August 2021 Frederick began his second attempt at sailing to Hawaii from California, during the voyage 1000 miles from Hawaii he lost his rudder and was forced to steer the rest of the way using a drogue. For this he was awarded the 2021 Qualifiers Mug from the Ocean Cruising Club. After spending the winter in Hawaii and repairing his rudder Frederick continued on towards French Polynesia.
