Longyearbyen ( Urban East Norwegian: [ˈlɔ̀ŋjɛrˌbyːən], [1] locally [ˈlɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən]; "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement, with a population greater than 1,000, and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. 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 on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the island's broadest inlet. As of 2002 Longyearbyen Community Council became an official Norwegian municipality. It is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. The town's mayor is Arild Olsen. [2] a b "Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen – Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast". Weather Atlas. Yu Media Group. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019 . Retrieved 30 August 2019. Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean under the sovereignty of Norway, but is subject to the special status granted by the Svalbard Treaty. Jan Mayen is a remote island in the Arctic Ocean; it has no permanent population and is administered by the County Governor of Nordland. Svalbard and Jan Mayen have in common that they are the only integrated parts of Norway not allocated to counties. Turisme: Stadig flere vil oppleve Arktis" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. October 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2015 . Retrieved 19 March 2012. Grønli, Kristin Straumsheim (December 2006). "Øyet i himmelen laster ned på Svalbard". Forskning.no (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 3 December 2011 . Retrieved 14 March 2012.

a b "Territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen". Statoids. 6 April 2005. Archived from the original on 8 January 2004 . Retrieved 4 March 2012. Svalbard's climate is a polar tundra climate ( Köppen: ET) tempered by the North Atlantic Current. The west coast of Svalbard is the warmest and wettest part of the archipelago (except for Bear Island). This is caused by the convergence of mild and humid air from the south and cold air from the north. Longyearbyen generally has lower humidity than other settlements within the Arctic Circle. Longyearbyen experiences midnight sun from between 18 April and 23 August (127 days), polar night from 27 October to 15 February (111 days) and civil polar night from 13 November to 29 January. However, due to shading from mountains, the sun is not visible in Longyearbyen until around 8 March. [18] Snow typically covers the town from November to March. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Longyearbyen was 21.7°C (71.1°F) in July 2020 and the coldest was −46.3°C (−51.3°F) in March 1986. Svalbard and Longyearbyen are among the places in the world that have warmed fastest in the latest decades. The 1991–2020 averages show that mean annual temperature in Longyearbyen has increased by 3.6°C (6.5°F) since 1961–1990. With the sea surface temperatures warming, ice formation takes longer in the surrounding waters and thus especially early winter under the polar night warms the fastest due to the shorter ice season. a b "Learning in the freezer". The Guardian. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017 . Retrieved 29 October 2017.Arctic Film Festival". FilmFreeway. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020 . Retrieved 14 October 2019. share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original. In particular, the flag of Norway is flown by Norwegians on the following special days across the country until sunset or until 9:00 pm, whichever comes first. Music is often played during public flag raising ceremonies on special flag days such as:

Advent City". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012 . Retrieved 19 March 2012. There was also a proposal with the left-half of the flag red, and the right-half white, and 10 maple leaves across the whole flag. [ citation needed] The Norwegian flag is not folded, like in some other countries. Instead of folding it, the Norwegian tradition is roll up the flag into a cylinder shape, lower it, and place a tie around the rolled flag. But the real natives of these islands are the polar bears. Numbers have actually increased of late and are said to number around 3,000. However, this population calls a wide area its home, only part of which is Svalbard.

In 1908, Wenceslau Escobar proposed removing the motto "ORDEM E PROGRESSO" because according to him, the flag cannot have a "motto of a sect (Positivism)". The huge seasonal contrasts leave their mark on Longyearbyen, where the activities and everyday life are controlled by the season. When it’s bright and sunny, people spend a lot of time outdoors, while Longyearbyen has a different pulse during the winter darkness when the locals and guests alike are extra sociable. During this period, we enjoy meeting one another at festivals, concerts, sporting events or over a delicious dinnerin one of the town’s many restaurants. Heading up into the mountains with a headlamp or participating in the torchlit parade at Christmas are also wonderful traditions among the locals during the dark season. Longyearbyen is located at latitude 78˚ North – just 1,316 km from the North Pole. Longyearbyen is a three-hour flight from Oslo or a 90-minute flight from Tromsø. Longyearbyen is situatedon the island of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. While Longyearbyen is the world’s northernmost settlement with a permanent population of more than 1,000, Svalbard has another settlement even further north – the research station of Ny-Ålesund. During the 1990s, the authorities started a process to "normalise" Longyearbyen by abolishing the company town scheme and introducing a full range of services, a varied economy and local democracy. [6] :86 Commercial enterprises included a shopping mall replacing SNSK's provision store in 1992. [4] :125 Similarly, Esso opened a commercial fuel station in 1994. [4] :70 The Svalbard Council changed its regulations from 1993 and allowed parties to run for election. [4] :136 In a step to increase tourism, Svalbard Polar Hotel opened in 1995, [4] :132 and a year later mining of Mine 3 terminated. [4] :47 Longyearbyen Community Council was established in 2002, replacing the Svalbard Council and assimilating SSD, and took on many of the responsibilities and the structure of a municipality. [9] Museums are known to educate and connect visitors with the nation’s history, culture, civilization, art, and architecture. Svalbard Museum serves the same purpose and is considered one of the most significant tourist attractions. Svalbard Museum is home to a large collection of artifacts. It has been designated as the national museum of the country.