The Governor of Svalbard represents the Norwegian

Norway

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...

 government in exercising its sovereignty

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

 over the Svalbard

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...

 archipelago (Spitsbergen).

The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice

Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of justice, police and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the Ministry is to provide for the maintenance and development of the basic guarantees of the rule of law...

, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in the area, including environmental protection

Environmental protection

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...

, law enforcement, representation, mediation, and civil matters, such as marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

, divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

. An important part of the position is to maintain good working relations with the 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...

n community in Barentsburg

Barentsburg

Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants , almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.-Status:...

.

To this end, the governor's organization consists of:

• a staff section with Russian interpreters and advisors on legal matters, tourism, etc.
• a section for law enforcement
• a section for environmental protection
• an administrative section, including archiving, financial management and IT support

The governor's office also has at its disposition several helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s, snowscooters, speedboats and other equipment needed to meet its responsibilities. The office's annual budget is determined by the Norwegian Storting, and runs at about NOK

Norwegian krone

The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...

 60 million, of which the largest part is used for transportation.

List of Governors of Svalbard (sysselmenn)

Name	Term began	Term ended
Johannes Gerckens Bassøe Johannes Gerckens Bassøe Johannes Gerckens Bassøe was a Norwegian jurist and civil servant. He is known as the first Governor of Svalbard, assuming office in October 1925, although there had been an Acting Governor since August. Bassøe was later County Governor of Troms and Vestfold.-Career:Bassøe was born in Råde, and...	1925	1933
Helge Ingstad Helge Ingstad Helge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian explorer. After mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, an archaeologist, in 1960 found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the Province of Newfoundland in Canada...  (acting)	1933	1935
Wolmar Tycho Marlow	1935	1941
Vacant	1941	1945
Håkon Balstad	1945	1956
Odd Birketvedt	1956	1960
Finn Backer Midtbøe	1960	1963
Tollef Landsverk Tollef Landsverk Tollef Landsverk was a Norwegian judge and civil servant.In his early career he was a police clerk, later stipendiary magistrate in Stavanger, Skien and Porsgrunn. He was Norway's Governor of Svalbard between 1963 and 1967. From 1981 he was a presiding judge in Agder Court of Appeal. He died in...	1963	1967
Stephen Stephensen	1967	1970
Fredrik Beichmann	1970	1974
Leif Eldring Leif Eldring Leif Thomas Eldring was a Norwegian judge and civil servant.He was born in Vardø. He competed his education in law in 1963, having worked part-time in Postverket. He was Norway's Governor of Svalbard from 1974 to 1977 and 1985 to 1991...	1974	1978
Jan Grøndahl Jan Grøndahl Jan Grøndahl is a Norwegian police chief and civil servant.He was born in Oslo, and took the cand.jur. degree. After spending the years 1972 to 1977 as chief of police in Sør-Varanger, he served as Governor of Svalbard from 1978 to 1982 and chief of police in Hamar from 1982 to 1998—except...	1978	1982
Carl Alexander Wendt Carl Alexander Wendt Carl Alexander Wendt was a Norwegian police leader and civil servant.He was born in Mandal, and took the cand.jur. degree in 1948. After spending the years 1967 to 1982 as chief of police in Sør-Varanger, Bodø and Stavanger, he served as Governor of Svalbard from 1982 to 1985 and chief of police...	1982	1985
Leif Eldring Leif Eldring Leif Thomas Eldring was a Norwegian judge and civil servant.He was born in Vardø. He competed his education in law in 1963, having worked part-time in Postverket. He was Norway's Governor of Svalbard from 1974 to 1977 and 1985 to 1991...	1985	1991
Odd Blomdal Odd Blomdal Odd Emil Blomdal is a Norwegian judge and civil servant.He took the cand.jur. degree in 1952, and later took a military education as well as further education in political science and public law...	1991	1995
Ann-Kristin Olsen Ann-Kristin Olsen Ann-Kristin Olsen is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant. Known as the first female chief of police in Norway, and the first female Governor of Svalbard, she has served as County Governor of Vest-Agder since 1998.-Early life:...	1995	1998
Morten Ruud Morten Ruud Morten Ruud is a Norwegian civil servant.Ruud graduated as cand.jur. in 1974 from the University of Oslo, and took the Norwegian National Defence College in 1985...	1998	2001
Odd Olsen Ingerø Odd Olsen Ingerø Odd Olsen Ingerø is a Norwegian civil servant and currently serving as the Governor of Svalbard.He was born in Skjeberg. In 2005 he was appointed director of Kripos. He was the Governor of Svalbard between 2001 and 2005. He was succeeded by Sven Ole Fagernæs, and was preceded by Morten Ruud....	2001	2005
Sven Ole Fagernæs Sven Ole Fagernæs Sven Ole Fagernæs is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant.He was born in Oslo, and was hired in the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police in 1973. From 1976 he worked in the Office of the Attorney General of Norway...  (acting)	2005	2005
Per Sefland Per Sefland Per Ottar Sefland is a previous Governor of Svalbard. He served from 1 October 2005 to 16 September 2009.Sefland was born in Evje, and his family later moved to Larvik. He married in 1972, and has two daughters....	2005	2009
Odd Olsen Ingerø Odd Olsen Ingerø Odd Olsen Ingerø is a Norwegian civil servant and currently serving as the Governor of Svalbard.He was born in Skjeberg. In 2005 he was appointed director of Kripos. He was the Governor of Svalbard between 2001 and 2005. He was succeeded by Sven Ole Fagernæs, and was preceded by Morten Ruud....	2009	Incumbent