Introducing Svalbard Studies

Svalbard, or “cool edge” in Old Norse, is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It has no indigenous population and some 60% of its landmass is covered by ice. Yet its rich wildlife and mineral resources, as well as spectacular sights, have been attracting a great deal of commercial interest ever sinc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nordlit
Main Authors: Chekin, Leonid S., Rogatchevski, Andrei
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2020
Subjects:
VDP::Humanities: 000
VDP::Humaniora: 000
VDP::Social science: 200
VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Svalbard
Spitsbergen
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/18494
https://doi.org/10.7557/13.4990
Description
Summary:Svalbard, or “cool edge” in Old Norse, is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It has no indigenous population and some 60% of its landmass is covered by ice. Yet its rich wildlife and mineral resources, as well as spectacular sights, have been attracting a great deal of commercial interest ever since Willem Barentsz discovered the archipelago in 1596 and named it Spitsbergen (“peaked mountains”). Initially a whale hunting base and subsequently a mining ground, a tourist destination and an Arctic research centre, Svalbard could have belonged, among others, to the Dutch, the British and the Russians (who claim to have visited it before Barentsz) – but ended up under Norwegian jurisdiction, upon an international approval of the so-called Svalbard Treaty.

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