Longyearbyen · 78.22 N 15.63 E

Svalbard Wire

Est. 2026

Everything said about Svalbard, in one place

Thursday 14 December 2023Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59

Daylight on 14 December: none, polar night, day 49. Polar night, day 49 of 112. The sun returns 16 February.

Polar night, day 49 of 112. The sun returns 16 February.

Svalbard Wire starts on 26 October 2026. Pages before that date show the history of the island.

History

The island's past

From the timeline, Discovery and whaling

1607

Hudson shows the way for whalers

Only when the Englishman Henry Hudson came to Svalbard in 1607 did people notice the hunting possibilities. English, Dutch, German, French, Danish and Norwegian vessels joined in, and there were several armed clashes between ships from different countries.

History Store norske leksikon

The timeline by era

  1. 1596Discovery and whaling, 3 entries
  2. 1715Hunting and expeditions, 4 entries
  3. 1905The coal town, 6 entries
  4. 1920The Svalbard Treaty, 4 entries
  5. 1941War and rebuilding, 4 entries
  6. 1975The modern town, 3 entries
  7. 2015The present transition, 6 entries

Open the history of Svalbard, 30 entries in 7 eras