Longyearbyen · 78.22 N 15.63 E

Svalbard Wire

Est. 2026

Everything said about Svalbard, in one place

Friday 13 March 2026Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59

Daylight on 13 March: sun 06:47 to 17:31; civil twilight 05:05 to 06:47, 17:31 to 19:13. Daylight 06:47 to 17:31, 10 h 44 min. Midnight sun from 19 April.

Daylight 06:47 to 17:31, 10 h 44 min. Midnight sun from 19 April.

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, The coal town

1973

The polar bear agreement is signed in Oslo

On 15 November 1973 Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States signed the international agreement on the conservation of polar bears in Oslo, at the end of a three-day conference of the five Arctic states; the Soviet Union signed later. Under the agreement polar bear hunting on Svalbard became unlawful.

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