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See the full story · 1 sourcesLongyearbyen, Norway, is the northernmost town in the world. Rimante_Hegland/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The world's northernmost town is Longyearbyen in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
The town is 800 miles from the North Pole and one of the most remote human settlements on Earth.
Longyearbyen has all the amenities of a modern town, including a school, restaurants, and a cinema.
From the driest deserts to remote settlements on volcanic islands, human communities can be found anywhere on Earth.
One such community is Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world , where 2,400 residents live, approximately 818 miles from the North Pole.
Located in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole, the town has modern amenities such as schools, restaurants, and stores.
However, it's unlike anywhere else on Earth.
For starters, it's dark for four months a year and perpetually light for another four months. Secondly, it's suggested residents carry a rifle when traveling outside the town borders — in case they run into a polar bear.
See what life is like for the people who live in this town.
Welcome to Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world.
Longyearbyen is located just over 800 miles from the North Pole. ogre64/Getty Images
Longyearbyen is located in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard , which is a three-hour flight from Oslo and about 818 miles from the North Pole.
The town is the largest settlement in its vicinity.
The town of Longyearbyen, home to the Global Seed Vault, is seen in this handout photo taken June 19, 2006. REUTERS / Peter Vermeij / Global Crop Diversity Trust / Handout
While there are a couple of tiny settlements further in the north, Longyearbyen is the first of any significant size.
The town has a population of around 2,400 residents, according to Visit Svalbard .
Svalbard was founded as a hunting and fishing base.
The Svalbard archipelago is home to a large population of whales. Anadolu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
After its discovery by Dutch explorer Willem Barents in 1596, Svalbard became a base for hunting and fishing the large fauna inhabiting the archipelago.
English, Danish, Dutch, and French companies fought over the hunting grounds, which were rich in walrus and bowhead whales. It's estimated that the Dutch alone killed 60,000 whales between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Longyearbyen was established as a mining town.
iwciagr/Shutterstock
At the turn of the 20th century, Longyearbyen was established as a coal mining town; however, mining operations have since shuttered.
Mining has been phased out of the entire area, with Svalbard's final mine, the Norwegian-run Mine 7, closing in June 2025. The entrance to the last Norwegian coal mine in the town was permanently sealed earlier this year.
Today, the town attracts tourists and researchers.
AP Photo/John McConnico
As mining phased out, Longyearbyen has become a destination for adventurous tourists and scientific researchers. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, over 150,000 people visited Svalbard as a whole, according to 2018 data.
The town hosts the doomsday seed vault, which stores 1.4 million seed samples.
The doomsday seed vault is home to over a million plant seed samples.
In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015, a view of the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. In the first withdrawal from a “doomsday” seed vault in the Arctic, thousands of seeds that were originally kept in war-stricken Syria have been safely delivered to Morocco and Lebanon, officials said Monday. Gene banks and organizations around the world have deposited about 860,000 samples of seeds at the Global Seed Vault in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to back up their own collections in case of man-made or natural calamities. AP Photo/David Keyton
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located 400 feet inside a mountain near Longyearbyen and is home to over 1.4 million seed samples.
Its architecture would also make it a spectacular lair for a Bond villain.
The seed vault is meant to withstand natural and man-made calamities.
In this photo taken Sunday, Oct.18, 2015, rows of boxes containing seed samples sit inside the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. In the first withdrawal from a “doomsday” seed vault in the Arctic, thousands of seeds that were originally kept in war-stricken Syria have been safely delivered to Morocco and Lebanon, officials said Monday. Gene banks and organizations around the world have deposited about 860,000 samples of seeds at the Global Seed Vault in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to back up their own collections in case of man-made or natural calamities. AP Photo/David Keyton
Buried in permafrost, the vault is supposed to stay frozen for at least 200 years, even if the electricity fails.
It can protect the seeds from climate change, natural disasters, and wars.
An armed guard stands in the entrance tunnel to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault Monday Feb. 25, 2008 in Longyearbyen, Norway. A "doomsday" vault built to withstand an earthquake or nuclear strike is ready to open deep in the permafrost of an Arctic mountain, where it will protect millions of agriculture seeds from man-made and natural disasters. The vault is to be officially inaugurated on Tuesday, less than year after crews started drilling in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole. The vault has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from around the globe, shielding them from climate change, wars, natural disasters and other threats. AP Photo/John McConnico
This tunnel became "like a glacier" when the meltwater froze, The Guardian reported in 2017. There are five doors with coded locks that anyone trying to get into the vault must pass through.
Polar bears act as extra protectors of the world's seeds.
A road sign warning about the presence of polar bears stands on a main street in Longyearbyen February ...
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