Barentsburg

The mining community in Grønfjorden

In Grønfjorden, a fjord to the west of the larger Isfjorden in Svalbard, the mining community Barentsburg lies. 

Barentsburg first got its name in 1920 when the Dutch company N.V. Nederlandsche Spitsbergen Compagnie bought and named the place after the Dutch seafarer Willem Barentsz who discovered Bjørnøya and the north-western part of Spitsbergen in 1596. But in 1932, Barentsburg was sold on to the Soviet state-owned company Arktikugol, and ever since the fall of the Soviet Union the community has been maintained by the Russian state-owned company Trust Arktikugol.

The town was more or less razed to the ground during the 2nd world war, and the buildings you see in Barentsburg today are therefore relatively new. Despite this the town still has a noticeable historical atmosphere, and even after the fall of the Soviet Union the bust of Lenin still stands looking out across Grønfjorden from its spot in front of the buildings in the town centre.

About Barentsburg

Barentsburg is situated 60km to the west of Longyearbyen and has its own coal-powered power plant, hospital, hotel, school, kindergarten, cultural and sports-facilities. The town is also home to a research station connected to the Kola Science Centre and The Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as one of Russia’s two Consulate Generals in Norway.

Information regarding tours with any form of connection Russian state-owned companies in Svalbard

Owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the related violations of international law and human rights, an extraordinary general meeting in Visit Svalbard has decided that all products, tours, services or other offers with any form of connection to the Russian state-owned companies in Svalbard, will be removed from Visit Svalbard’s platforms.

For more information, see the media release from Svalbard Tourism Council and Visit Svalbard.