Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean roughly 800 km (500 mi) north of North Cape and a similar distance from the North Pole. Under a 1925 treaty, Svalbard is part of the Kingdom of Norway, but other countries have the right to exploit mineral resources (meaning coal). The only nation exercising this right is Russia, which has a mining settlement of about 600 residents at Barentsburg. The Norwegian town Longyearbyen, with a population of about 1800, is the northernmost town in the world. Both Barentsburg and Longyearbyen are on the Isfjord, which cuts across the main island from west to east. In recent years Svalbard has become accessible by adventure cruise ships.
All the lighthouses are on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. (In fact, the entire territory is sometimes called Spitsbergen.)
In Norway a lighthouse is simply called a fyr (fire). Aids to navigation are maintained by the Kystverket (Coast Directorate), an agency of the Fiskeri og Kystdepartementet (Fisheries and Coast Department).
ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. NF numbers are from the Norsk Fyrliste. Admiralty numbers are from volume L of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 115.
- General Sources
- Lighthouses in Svalbard
- Photos available from Wikimedia.
Akseløya Fyr, Bellsund
Kystverket photo, from 2011 Norsk Fyrliste
