Barentsburg
Encyclopedia
Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard
, with about 500 inhabitants (2007), almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians
. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.
sovereignty, the unique Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 allows citizens of signatory countries equal rights to exploit natural resources. Currently, Russia
is the only country to maintain such a presence. Russia maintains a consulate in Barentsburg, the northernmost diplomatic mission
of any kind in the world. Still Barentsburg has a Norwegian mail address and Norwegian phone numbers.
by the Arktikugol (Арктикуголь) company, although tourism is beginning to be developed. The distance from Longyearbyen
to Barentsburg is about 55 km but there are no roads connecting the two settlements. Most contact between the two is by boat, or helicopter.
Coal is still mined in Barentsburg and regularly exported to (generally) buyers within Northern Europe
. The town relies entirely on mainland Russia for food and coinage. There have been instances in which not enough food was sent, and aid packages were sent from Longyearbyen. Also, the coal company has been known not to pay employees until they finish their three-year contract and return to Russia. Tourism is still only an embryonic industry and is not generating enough income to revive the town.
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
, with about 500 inhabitants (2007), almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.
Status
Although Svalbard is under NorwegianNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
sovereignty, the unique Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 allows citizens of signatory countries equal rights to exploit natural resources. Currently, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is the only country to maintain such a presence. Russia maintains a consulate in Barentsburg, the northernmost diplomatic mission
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
of any kind in the world. Still Barentsburg has a Norwegian mail address and Norwegian phone numbers.
Economic basis
Barentsburg started as a Dutch mining town in the 1920s. In 1932 the Dutch sold their concession to the Soviet Union. Since 1932 the Russian state owned Arktikugol Trust has been operating on Svalbard. The main economic activity is coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
by the Arktikugol (Арктикуголь) company, although tourism is beginning to be developed. The distance from Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
to Barentsburg is about 55 km but there are no roads connecting the two settlements. Most contact between the two is by boat, or helicopter.
Coal is still mined in Barentsburg and regularly exported to (generally) buyers within Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
. The town relies entirely on mainland Russia for food and coinage. There have been instances in which not enough food was sent, and aid packages were sent from Longyearbyen. Also, the coal company has been known not to pay employees until they finish their three-year contract and return to Russia. Tourism is still only an embryonic industry and is not generating enough income to revive the town.
2006 fire
On October 17, 2006 Norwegian inspectors detected an underground, smoldering fire in Barentsburg, prompting fears that an open fire might break out, which would have forced the evacuation of all of Barentsburg for an indefinite period of time, and also cause unknown environment problems for the entire archipelago. The fire was later contained. Coal mining was restarted four and half years later, in the end of 2010.External links
- Barentsburg Research Base Official site
- Barentsburg Cosmic Ray Station from the Polar Geophysical Institute
- Map and guide, with photos in English Japanese version of site
- Barentsburg photos from Galen R Frysinger site
- Many photos of Barentsburg on this flickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
site - More photos of Barentsburg from a Svalbard site
- Story on Barentsburg from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, December 25, 2006