The Northernmost Permanently Inhabited Civilian Settlement on Earth…
Well, it’s been just over 3 years since I took my first steps off of a plane and landed on the frozen runway at Longyearbyen airport on the Norwegian Archipelago of Svalbard. Walking the 25 or so yards from the plane to the airport almost felt, like coming home.
Taxidermy Polar Bear on the baggage reclaim belt inside the Svalbard Airport. Image taken on: iPhone 13 Pro Max.
My first trip to the Norwegian archipelago was back in March 2019, which happened to be a work trip. Although I’d done my research on what the seasons were like, what are the average temperatures were, the Norwegian customs etc, I could immediately tell that dragging 3 roller cases filled to the brim with about 40kg of photography equipment and my winter wardrobe, the 20 or so yards from the doors of the airport through the snow & ice to the awaiting flybus service was not going to be a great experience! However, within about 2 mins of getting on the bus I’d completely forgotten about all that and I absolutely fell in love with the place!
I’ve noticed a few things in my two trips to 78° 13’ North, the people who come to Svalbard seem to be of a very similar nature. Generally outdoorsy, whether that’s for environmental science and research or things like recreational skiing, camping, walking and even photography, there’s something, an aura that beckons you and draws you here. It’s isolated and out of the way, so you’re there for a reason.
A sunset view along the main shopping street in Longyearbyen. Image Taken on: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & XF23mm f1.4 WR Lens
As a travel and landscape photographer, there is something quite special about the light in the arctic circle. On Svalbard, from the beginning of November to the end of January this is the Polar Night, the sun remains at least 6° below the horizon at all times, meaning it’s dark 24/7. Then from the beginning of March to the middle of May they have Sunny Winter, both of my trips have been in this time. At the beginning of this period the light returns to the island, bathing the sky subtly, but the sun won’t break the horizon, or mountains, for another week or so yet. When it first reaches the town though, around the 8th March, the whole town comes together as one for the Solfestuka or Sun Festival! A week of festivities, music, food, concerts and art installations amongst other wonderful sights and sounds, all culminating with the sun breaking over the tops of the mountains for the first time in 6 months! It really is a special moment, one that I finally got to witness this year.
Finally… Image taken on: Fujifilm GFX100s & GF80mm F1.7 lens
The light is hard to describe as it’s soft, rich, subtle, yet vibrant, impactful and at some times just completely overwhelming. Pinks and blues dance in the early morning or late into the afternoon and reveal themselves to all, hard, contrasty shadows and bright highlights are everywhere you look on the good days and then at night, the potential for the Aurora Borealis to dance above you.
Aurora Borealis dancing above the town of Longyearbyen. Image taken on: Fujifilm X-T4, XF8-16mm f2.8 lens & 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 Tripod
On the “bad days” however, well, the weather really closes in and there’s not much to see at all. The weather is typical of the high arctic, one moment you could have glorious sunshine with not a cloud in the sky, 60 seconds later it’s blizzard conditions and a complete white out. We witnessed this on a number of occasions throughout our latest trip.
The weather played a huge part on our trip. Svalbard itself is one of the most affected places from climate change on Earth, with temperature rises in the winter 7X greater than anywhere else. As an example March should be the coldest month on the archipeligo and average daily temperatures should be around the -13°c mark, with average lows of -17°c and average highs of -9°c. The windchill can take that down to as low as -38°c! While we were there, only two weeks mind you, the average daily temp was -2°c. It was even as high as +6°c with rain, that’s almost unheard of in the high arctic as its usually too cold!
Blizzard Conditions. Image taken on: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & XF33mm F1.4 WR lens
For those not familiar with the area, Svalbard (Old Norse meaning Cold Coast) is comprised of nine main islands and was officially discovered in 1596 by the Dutch explorers Willem Barentsz and Jacob Van Heemskerk. The largest and only permanently inhabited island is Spitsbergen (Willem Barentsz named it Spitsbergen which in Dutch translates as Pointed Mountain) and this is where the main settlement of Longyearbyen lies. It stretches along the foot of the left bank of the Longyear Valley and on the shore of Adventfjorden, the short estuary leading into Isfjorden.
Whaling was the main activity in the area in the 17th and 18th century, but with the decline of whaling around 1800, the focus shifted into coal mining. Although, this wasn’t surveyed and claimed until the very start of the 20th century when the american industrialist, John Munro Longyear, visited Spitsbergen on an expedition in 1903 prospecting for coal. Fast forward 3 years and in 1906 his company the Arctic Coal Company established Mine 1a and Longyear City (now Longyearbyen).
Mine 2b, Longyearbyen. Image taken on X-T4 & XF16-55mm f2.8 lens
Longyearbyen was a company town from 1906 right up until the 1990’s. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani took over the mining operations in Longyearbyen in 1916 and kept the rights up until 2017. The town had around 7 mines, of which only one is still in operation today, Mine 7. It is due to close in 2023. There are other large mining sites on the archipelago, namely in Sveagruva and the Russian Arctikugol Trust owned mines in Pyramiden (abandoned in 1998) and the town of Barentsburg, at the entrance of Isfjord which is still actively mining coal today.
View of Barentsburg from our boat. Image taken on: Fujifilm X-Pro3 & XF23mm F1.4 WR Lens
Longyearbyen currently boasts a full time population of around 2400 people, which makes it the northernmost permanently inhabited civilian settlement of over 1000 people anywhere on earth.
If you want to learn more about the amazing archipelago of Svalbard, please visit: https://en.visitsvalbard.com
I’ll be posting more blogs on our actual trip, the excursions and the sights and sounds soon.
Thanks for reading and speak again soon!