Svalbard: Geography#
| Location | Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway |
|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 78 00 N, 20 00 E 78.0,20.0 |
| Land boundaries | 0 km |
| Coastline | 3,587 km |
| Elevation Extremes | lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m |
| Highest Mountains | |
| Terrain | wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts |
| Natural Hazards | ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic |
| Natural Resource | coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish |
| Land Use | arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2011) |
| Climate | arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year |
| Irrigated Land | NA |
| Renewable Water Resources | NA |
| Environment_CurrentIssues | NA |
| Environment - international agreements | NA |
| Large Cities | |
| Geography-note | northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government |