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Svalbard

Svalbard Geography Stats

Definitions

  • Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
  • Area > Comparative to US places: This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
  • Area > Land: Total land area in square kilometres
  • Area > Land > Per capita: Total land area in square kilometres Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Area > Note: This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
  • Area > Total: Total area in square kilometers
  • Area > Total > Per capita: Total area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Area > Water: Total water area in square kilometers
  • Area > Water > Per capita: Total water area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1 million population.
  • Climate: A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
  • Coastline: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
  • Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
  • Elevation extremes > Lowest point: This entry is derived from Geography > Elevation extremes, which includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
  • Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.
  • Note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
  • Land use > Arable land: The percentage of used land that is arable. Arable land is land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice
  • Land use > Other: The percentage share of used land that is not arable or under permanent crops. This includes permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren land, etc.
  • Land use > Permanent crops: The percentage share of used land on which permanent crops are grown. This is land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber. It includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.
  • Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
  • Map references: The name of the CIA World Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
  • Marine Coastline: Length of each country's coastline in kilometers.
  • Maritime claims > Exclusive fishing zone: Exclusive fishing zone - while this term is not used in the LOS Convention, some States (e.g. the United Kingdom) have chosen not to claim an EEZ, but rather to claim jurisdiction over the living resources off their coast; in such cases, the term exclusive fishing zone is often used.
  • Maritime claims > Territorial sea: territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles. A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
  • Natural hazards: Potential natural disasters.
  • Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
  • Population density: People per square kilometre, in 1999. At this time the world average was 14.42.
  • Terrain: A brief description of the topography
STAT AMOUNT DATE RANK HISTORY
Area > A note includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) 2003
Area > Comparative slightly smaller than West Virginia 2013
Area > Comparative to US places slightly smaller than West Virginia 2008
Area > Land 61,020 sq km 2008 122nd out of 235
Area > Land > Per capita 28,184.76 sq km per 1,000 people 2008 1st out of 224
Area > Note includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) 2008
Area > Total 62,045 sq km 2013 126th out of 251
Area > Total > Per capita 28,184.76 sq km per 1,000 people 2008 1st out of 228
Area > Water 0.0 2013 233th out of 246
Area > Water > Per capita 0.0 2005 207th out of 216
Climate arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year 2013
Coastline 3,587 km 2014 34th out of 242
Elevation extremes > Highest point Newtontoppen 1,717 m 2013
Elevation extremes > Lowest point Arctic Ocean 0 m 2013
Geographic coordinates 78 00 N, 20 00 E 2013
Note northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government 2013
Land boundaries 0 2005
Land use > Arable land 0.0 2013 240th out of 246
Land use > Other 100% 2011 22nd out of 245
Land use > Permanent crops 0.0 2013 239th out of 247
Location Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway 2013
Map references Arctic Region 2013
Marine Coastline 3,587 km 2014 34th out of 242
Maritime claims > Exclusive fishing zone 200 nautical mile 2013 1st out of 32
Maritime claims > Territorial sea 4 nautical mile 2013 183th out of 198
Natural hazards ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic 2011
Natural resources coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish 2013
Population density 0.04 people per sqkm 1999 230th out of 255
Terrain wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts 2013

SOURCES: CIA World Factbook, December 2003; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; CIA Factbook: List of countries by coastline size; Heal The World Foundation.

Citation

NationMaster

Svalbard Geography Profiles (Subcategories)

Area 10 Land use 3

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