Svalbard

Svalbard, or Spitsbergen, island group in the Arctic Ocean 400 mi (640 km) north of Norway and officially belonging to that country since 1920. The 5 main islands are Spitsbergen, North East Land, Edge Island, Barents Island, and Prince Charles Foreland. They were known to the Norwegians by the Middle Ages. Formerly of importance in the whaling and fur trading industries, since the 1890s they have been mined for coal, largely by companies of the former Soviet Union.