_#_Disputes: focus of maritime boundary dispute between Norway
and USSR
_#_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
_#_Terrain: wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered;
west coast clear of ice about half the year; fjords along west and north
coasts
_#_Natural resources: coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc,
wildlife, fish
_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%; there are no trees and the only
bushes are crowberry and cloudberry
_#_Environment: great calving glaciers descend to the sea
_#_Note: located 445 km north of Norway where the Arctic Ocean,
Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea meet
_*_People
_#_Population: 3,942 (July 1991), growth rate NA% (1991); about
one-third of the population resides in the Norwegian areas (Longyearbyen
and Svea on Vestspitsbergen) and two-thirds in the Soviet areas
(Barentsburg and Pyramiden on Vestspitsbergen); about 9 persons live at
the Polish research station
_#_Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: NA migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: NA years male, NA years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman (1991)
_#_Ethnic divisions: Russian 64%, Norwegian 35%, other 1% (1981)
_#_Language: Russian, Norwegian
_#_Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
_#_Labor force: NA
_#_Organized labor: none
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none
_#_Type: territory of Norway administered by the Ministry of Industry,
Oslo, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in Longyearbyen,
Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty was given to Norway
_#_Capital: Longyearbyen
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991);