[3] Rijpsburg, a now abandoned Dutch settlement on Spitsbergen on Cape Boheman (Bohemanflya), at the north site of Nordfjorden in the Isfjord, stood roughly diagonally opposite Longyearbyen.

The Rotterdam-based Van der Eb and Dresselhuys Scheepvaartmaatschappij (navigation company) built it in 1920, using prefabricated huts, for the mining of coal.

On October 17, 2006, Norwegian inspectors detected a smouldering underground fire in Barentsburg, prompting fears that an open fire might break out,[4] which would have forced the total evacuation of Barentsburg for an indefinite period of time, and would also have caused environmental problems of unknown magnitude for the entire archipelago.

[9] Then, in 2023, amid continuing tensions around Russia's war in Ukraine, the Russian Consulate General and Arktikugol staged a May 9 Day "victory parade" through Barentsburg consisting of 50 cars, snowmobiles, trucks and buses and also including a low-flying Mi-8 helicopter.

[12] After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the economy of Barentsburg has been in steady decline, and population, which once numbered around a thousand, has decreased drastically.

[12][13] Amid the warming waters, Russia has said it intends to build a facility in Barentsburg to process fish for export.

There is a heliport (ICAO code ENBA) with a road connection at Heerodden (78°06′03″N 14°11′46″E / 78.100809°N 14.196224°E / 78.100809; 14.196224), 4 km (2 mi) north of Barentsburg.

Every summer, several dozen geophysicists, geologists, archaeologists, biologists, glaciologists, geographers, etc., from Russia and elsewhere work in the scientific research centre.

Barentsburg has its own school serving the Russian community; in 2014 it had three teachers, with one for most subjects, one for music, and one for the English language.