🐻‍❄️ Svalbard Residents

Svalbard Residents

Svalbard residents (~2,600) inhabit Earth's northernmost permanent civilian settlement at 74-81°N. They endure 4 months of polar night, -40°C temperatures, polar bears (more bears than people—mandatory rifle carry outside settlements), extreme isolation, and total darkness. The archipelago is warming faster than anywhere on Earth. Coal mining heritage, seed vault custodianship, unique visa-free status, armed polar bear defense, and living in perpetual Arctic extremes characterize humanity's northernmost town at the edge of the habitable world.