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| Location: |
Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway
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| Geographic coordinates: |
78 00 N, 20 00 E
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| Map references: |
Arctic Region
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| Area: |
total:
62,049 sq km
land:
62,049 sq km
water:
0 sq km
note:
includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)
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| Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than West Virginia
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| Maritime claims: |
exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia
territorial sea:
4 NM
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| 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
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| 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
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| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
Arctic Ocean 0 m
highest point:
Newtontoppen 1,717 m
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| Natural resources: |
coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc, wildlife, fish
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| Land use: |
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
0%
forests and woodland:
0%
other:
100% (no trees, and the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry)
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| Natural hazards: |
ice floes often block up 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
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| Environment - current issues: |
NA
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| Geography - note: |
northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area
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