Introducing Svalbard Studies

• 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

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.