Norway is home to Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000.

The town is the largest inhabited area of the Svalbard province and, according to the 2020 census, counts some 1,750 residents.

Dotted with colourful homes, this town has a four-square-mile area, but it includes all services needed by locals and visitors alike to enjoy their stay.

In Longyearbyen, visitors and residents can rely only on one grocery store, according to Svalbard’s official website. But the pretty town also has a kindergarten, school, church, post office, gourmet restaurant and even a museum.

In Longyearbyen, where the streets are numbered rather than named, there is also the University Centre in Svalbard – the world’s northernmost research and higher education institution as it is located at 78° latitude. 

This university offers courses falling into science disciplines – all linked to the environment that surrounds it, such as Arctic biology and Arctic geophysics.

Located in a valley on the shores of the Adventfjord, the view from Longyearbyen includes steep mountains and glaciers.

Its visitors are not all humans, as reindeers and whales are often spotted in the area – as are polar bears, which makes it necessary for people to carry weapons when they venture outside the settlement.  

The name itself of the town seemingly suggests just how isolated it is, as it translates in Longyear Town. The name, however, is more a tribute to its founder, John Munro Longyear, rather than an indication of the passage of time or its remoteness.

Despite its location and the freezing conditions it experiences all year round, this Norwegian town has become well known as a research and education centre.

Tourism is increasingly becoming an important industry in the town too, as in 2016 it welcomed 115,000 tourists, of which 35,000 arrived by cruise ship from overseas. 

People wanting to visit the town should become acquainted with special regulations in place due to its remoteness – including a ban on cats and a restriction on how much alcohol an individual can purchase on a monthly basis.

While it has been widely reported that it is illegal to die in Longyearbyen, the reality is that bodies can’t be buried in the town, a regulation which normally prompts residents considered terminally ill to move to the mainland.

The decision to disallow burials was taken in 1950, when it was discovered that bodies buried in the area who had died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic hadn’t yet begun to decompose due to the freezing temperatures. This has sparked concerns that buried bodies may still contain live strains of deadly viruses.