Svalbard is a country, which mad by many islands. So we ccan call it group of islands. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean north of Europe, about midway between Norway and the North Pole. This group of islands is the northern part of the kingdom of Norway. Among the group of islands, three islands, Spits Bergen, Bjornoya and Hopen are populated. Norway has complete power over Svalbard through the Svalbard Treaty. With the 1925 Svalbard Act, Norway decided to make Svalbard a part of the kingdom, and it remains one of four special entities whose status is recognized by international threat in the world today

According to some sources, Vikings and Russians discovered Svalbord before the 12th century. But actually the Dutchman Willem Barents discovered it in 1596. Svalbard is a group of islands among which, Spits Bergen is also a populated island.
From 1612 to 1720, many Danish, Dutch, English, French and Norwegian people started industries of hunting and killing whales, in the western coast of Spits Bergen Dutch people were very active in this job, they alone took 60,000 whales. Moreover they also provided the headquarters for any Arctic exploration. Comprehensive geological mapping of the islands was conducted by teams from the Cambridge and other universities, under the leadership of W. Brian Harland from the 1940s to 1980s.
Among the group of islands, Spits Bergen is the largest island, Spits Bergen is the largest island, and previously the whole group of islands was known by Spits Bergen, and the main island was called west Spits Bergen.

Svalbard featured as the setting for much action in Philip Pullman's. His Dark Materials trilogy, a gateway was created there from which one could gain access to parallel universes. The Svalbard in the books is ruled by a race of sentient armored polar bears.

Norwegian kroner per US dollar - 6.4425 (2005), 6.7408 (2004), 7.0802 (2003), 7.9838 (2002), 8.9917 (2001)

Economic Activities (Trades): - Coal mining is main economic activity of Svalbard. The first modern coal main was opened in 1906 when the Arctic Coal Company (ACC) set up camp. The owner of ACC was John Munroe Longyear, who was American. But in 1916, ACC sold out to the Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) and after that two other Norwegian companies set up operations on the southern island, Bjornoya and the kings Bay Kull Compani opened a mine in Ny Alesand, which was closed down in 1963. Mining developed during WWII, and the islands were removed from dangerous place on the 3rd of September 1941. However the Germans did bomb Longyearbyen and the Borenstsburg settlement in September 1943 and than after the Sveagruva settlement did.
As of 2006, there are three operational coal mines in Svalbard, among them the mines, which in Svegruva and in Borentsburg are large mines, which in Longyerbyen has a small mine.
Other Activities: - Fishing and trapping are Svalbard's other economic activites. In the final decades of the 20th century tourism, research, higher education and some high-tech enterprises such as satellite relay stations have developed quickly.
Achievements: -
1. A 200-mile Fisheries Protection Zone around Svalbard was established in 1977.
2. The Svalbard Undersea Cable System started operation in January 2004 provides dual 1,440 km fiber optic lines from Svalbard to Harstad, needed for communicating with polar orbiting satellite staions on Svalbard, some owned by NASA and NOAA.

Population: - According to the 2004 estimate total populatin was about 2,756. Among them 60% of the people are Norwegian, 40% are Russian and Ukrainian. Its population density was about 0.04 persons per sq. km.

Norwegian is an official language of Svalbard while Russian language is used in the Russian settlements, but Russenorks was the lingua franc of the entire Barents Sea region.