History of Svalbard

Vikings and/or Russians may have discovered Svalbard as early as the 12th century. Traditional Norse accounts exist of a land known as Svalbard - literally "cold edge". But the Dutchman Willem Barents made the first indisputable discovery of Svalbard in 1596. The islands served as an international whaling base in the 17th and 18thth centuries, when there the Greenland whale became extinct in this region. They also provided the headquarters for many Arctic exploration expeditions.

At the beginning of 20th century, American, British, Swedish, Russian and Norwegian companies started coal mining. Norway's sovereignty was recognized on 9 February 1920 with an addition that it cannot use it for military purposes and that the other nations retain right to their settlements; five years later Norway officially took over the territory. Only Norwegian and Russian settlements survived World War II.