NORWAY, Svalbard. January 2017.
With the snowmobile on the way to Barentsburg from Longyearsbyen. Longyearbyen is the administrative centre of Spitsbergen. Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated Island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway. Situated north of mainland Europe, Svalbard is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole. Svalbard is the northernmost settlement in the world with a permanent civilian population, which are not only researchers. The islands were first taken into use as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. Now tourism is on the rise.
Barentsburg is the second-largest settlement on Svalbard. It is the only remaining Russian settlement, after Pyramiden was abandoned in 1998.This Russian mining town has about 500 inhabitants, almost entirely russians and Ukrainians. The only way to go to Barentsburg from Longyearbyen in winter is by snowmobile or by boat. There are no roads in between the two settlements.