Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends
Abstract The Svalbard archipelago is a centre of global research on climate change and also an example of a rapidly changing Arctic area with tourism replacing the traditional mining industry. We compared the different development paths of the Norwegian (Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund) and Russian sett...
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2023
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247423000050 2024-09-30T14:31:35+00:00 Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends Middleton, Alexandra 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000050 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000050 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Polar Record volume 59 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000050 2024-09-11T04:04:15Z Abstract The Svalbard archipelago is a centre of global research on climate change and also an example of a rapidly changing Arctic area with tourism replacing the traditional mining industry. We compared the different development paths of the Norwegian (Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund) and Russian settlements (Barentsburg and Pyramida) on Spitsbergen as part of the Svalbard archipelago using demographic and socio-economic data until 2022 when available, but not focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 and changing geopolitics after 2022. We analysed strategy documents produced by Norway and Russia and by organisations connected to Svalbard. The analysis continued by scrutinising the statistical data available to ascertain if this supported the strategic goals outlined in the documents. Data collection was by direct enquiry to national statistical bureaus, agencies and institutions in Norway and Russia. Secondary data were collected from media publications and social media accounts. Statistics Norway provided very detailed data on demographics and industrial structure, turnover, investments and comprehensive statistics on employees by industry on Norwegian settlements on Svalbard. The results revealed disparities in socio-economic development, striking differences in data availability and in transparency between the Norwegian and Russian settlements. The population in the Norwegian settlements continued to grow during the period 1990–2022 with an increasing number of foreign nationals, and the population in the Russian settlements decreased by 85% at the same time period. The Norwegian settlements exemplify a diversified economy with a growing private sector, and the Russian settlements continued to rely on the town-forming Russian state unitary coal mining enterprise, Trust Arktikugol. While Svalbard presented a prime example of open data and transparency in the environmental sciences, the socio-economic and demographic statistics were lagging behind. Several practical proposals are presented for improved data ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barentsburg Climate change Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen Cambridge University Press Arctic Svalbard Ny-Ålesund Longyearbyen Svalbard Archipelago Norway Barentsburg ENVELOPE(14.212,14.212,78.064,78.064) Polar Record 59 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The Svalbard archipelago is a centre of global research on climate change and also an example of a rapidly changing Arctic area with tourism replacing the traditional mining industry. We compared the different development paths of the Norwegian (Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund) and Russian settlements (Barentsburg and Pyramida) on Spitsbergen as part of the Svalbard archipelago using demographic and socio-economic data until 2022 when available, but not focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 and changing geopolitics after 2022. We analysed strategy documents produced by Norway and Russia and by organisations connected to Svalbard. The analysis continued by scrutinising the statistical data available to ascertain if this supported the strategic goals outlined in the documents. Data collection was by direct enquiry to national statistical bureaus, agencies and institutions in Norway and Russia. Secondary data were collected from media publications and social media accounts. Statistics Norway provided very detailed data on demographics and industrial structure, turnover, investments and comprehensive statistics on employees by industry on Norwegian settlements on Svalbard. The results revealed disparities in socio-economic development, striking differences in data availability and in transparency between the Norwegian and Russian settlements. The population in the Norwegian settlements continued to grow during the period 1990–2022 with an increasing number of foreign nationals, and the population in the Russian settlements decreased by 85% at the same time period. The Norwegian settlements exemplify a diversified economy with a growing private sector, and the Russian settlements continued to rely on the town-forming Russian state unitary coal mining enterprise, Trust Arktikugol. While Svalbard presented a prime example of open data and transparency in the environmental sciences, the socio-economic and demographic statistics were lagging behind. Several practical proposals are presented for improved data ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Middleton, Alexandra |
spellingShingle |
Middleton, Alexandra Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
author_facet |
Middleton, Alexandra |
author_sort |
Middleton, Alexandra |
title |
Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
title_short |
Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
title_full |
Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
title_fullStr |
Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
title_full_unstemmed |
Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
title_sort |
norwegian and russian settlements on svalbard: an analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000050 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247423000050 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(14.212,14.212,78.064,78.064) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Ny-Ålesund Longyearbyen Svalbard Archipelago Norway Barentsburg |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Ny-Ålesund Longyearbyen Svalbard Archipelago Norway Barentsburg |
genre |
Arctic Barentsburg Climate change Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barentsburg Climate change Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 59 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247423000050 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
59 |
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1811636056618958848 |