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Arctic

Flew from Oslo Norway today August 11, 2022 to Longyearbyen, Svalbard in the Arctic.

Longyearbyen 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.

First look at our home for the next 10 nights, the Ocean Diamond.

Longyearbyen Town is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. the town has seen a large increase in tourism and research.

Look out for polar bears. You cannot go beyond this point in Longyearbyen without a rifle.

Best word to describe this part of the world. "Desolate"

Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after American John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal-mining there in 1906.

Historically, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations moved to Sveagruva during the 1990s, and production ceased in 2017 due to immense financial losses

The town is built right into the surrounding hills.Everyone that lives there is from the outside and women are not allowed to give birth there. Due to the remote location, a few weeks before their due date women are obliged to go to mainland Norway to have their babies.

The coal mines were opened and closed numerous times over the history of the area.

Glaciers are very close to the town of Longyearbyen.

Meanwhile, the town has seen a large increase in tourism and research. This includes the arrival of institutions such as the University Center in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. Svalbard Airport, Svalbard Church and the Svalbardbutikken department store serve the community.

The American community buried their dead at Hotellneset. In 1918, eleven people were killed by the Spanish flu and a graveyard was established in Longyear City. The burial ground remained in use until 1950, with 44 people buried. However, it was discovered that the bodies were failing to decompose because of the permafrost, and that they could be preserving various microorganisms. Bodies have since been sent to the mainland for burial.

Reindeer run wild throughout the area and in town.

Church of Norway. 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

The University Center in Svalbard is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that is involved in research and provides some higher education in Arctic studies. The courses offered fall into five main science disciplines: Arctic biology, Arctic geology, Arctic geophysics, Arctic technology and Arctic safety.

26 men were killed in a coal dust explosion in Mine 1. This resulted in the mine being closed. The coal mines were opened and closed over a number of years.

Ny-Ålesund "New Ålesund" is a small town in Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway.

The company town is owned and operated by Kings Bay, which provides facilities for permanent research activities by 19 institutions from 11 countries.

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