Longyearbyen (Urban East Norwegian: [ˈlɔ̀ŋjɛrˌbyːən],[3] locally [ˈlɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən], "Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000, and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway.

It stretches along the foot of the left bank of the Longyear Valley and on the shore of Adventfjorden, the short estuary leading into Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the island's broadest inlet.

[5]: 46 The American industrialist John Munro Longyear visited Spitsbergen as a tourist in 1901, and met with an expedition prospecting for coal.

[5]: 47 Following financial difficulties during the First World War,[5]: 46  the mining operations were bought by Store Norske, which was incorporated in Oslo on 30 November 1916.

[5]: 83  SNSK introduced its own money with the approval of Norges Bank, consisting entirely of banknotes at par with Norwegian krone.

However, from 1941 the archipelago became of strategic importance in the supply chain between the Allied powers, as well as a source of badly needed coal.

The Norwegian government-in-exile rejected a Soviet–British occupation;[7]: 74  instead the British Army started Operation Gauntlet to evacuate Spitsbergen.

[5]: 73  With Longyearbyen depopulated, a small German garrison and air strip were established in Adventdalen, mostly to provide meteorological data.

[5]: 119  Svalbard Samfunnsdrift (SSD), a limited company that was responsible for public infrastructure and services, was established by SNSK on 1 January 1989.

Responsibilities included healthcare, the fire brigade, the kindergarten, roads, rubbish disposal, power production, the water and sewer system, the cinema, cultural activities and the library.

[11] During the 1990s, the authorities started a process to "normalise" Longyearbyen by abolishing the company town scheme and introducing a full range of services, a varied economy and local democracy.

The lower parts of the town lie along the southwestern shore of the bay of Adventfjorden, a 7-by-4-kilometer (4+1⁄2 by 2+1⁄2 mi) branch of Isfjorden.

According to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, annual precipitation on Svalbard has increased by 30 to 45 per cent over the past 50 years, mostly in the form of winter rain.

[34] The council's main responsibilities are infrastructure and utilities, including power, land-use and community planning, education from kindergarten to upper secondary level and child welfare.

[41] Because of the special treaty status of Svalbard, Longyearbyen is subject to Norwegian legislation, but citizens of any signatory country may conduct commercial activities and live in town.

[44] Starting with the 2023 Norwegian local elections, voters for the Longyearbyen community council must have previously resided in mainland Norway for at least 3 years.

[45][46] Previously, foreign citizens who had lived in Longyearbyen itself for 3 years had also been allowed to vote, with the rule change disenfranchising a significant percentage of the settlement's population.

While it is not actually illegal to die in the town, there are no options for burial of bodies there (ashes can be buried with permission from the government) and residents considered terminally ill are typically required to move to the mainland.

The decision to disallow burials came in 1950, when it was discovered that the bodies of residents who had died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic had not begun to decompose.

Today, scientists are concerned that these corpses, preserved by permafrost may still harbor live strains of the virus responsible for killing between 1% and 6% of the world's population during the early 20th century.

[49] The community council runs a number of cultural activities, such as a cinema, a youth club, a library and a gallery.

[52] Solfestuka ("Sun Festival Week") takes place each year during the week surrounding 8 March, the date sunlight is first visible in most of the town after the polar night that began the previous October (the first official sunrise is usually 16 February, but most of the town is still in shadow due to the surrounding mountains).

[55] Twenty residents of the town are members of the Liverbirds Svalbard and regularly meet in the Svalbar Archived 28 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine on match days during the winter months.

[5]: 139  Svalbardhallen is an indoor sport centre that includes a multi-sport hall large enough for handball or three badminton courts, a shooting range, a climbing wall and a 25-meter (82 ft) swimming pool.

An under-16 boys futsal team representing Svalbard Turn, played in the small 2-day Per Bredesen Cup in Horten in March 2020.

[20] The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) has 350 students and a permanent faculty of 40 professors and assistants and 120 guest lecturers.

At Platåberget above Hotellneset, it was built as a cooperation between NASA and the Norwegian Space Centre, but has since 2001 been operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services.

The facility has been designed to protect against natural and human disasters, including global warming, floods and fires and nuclear holocaust.

The site was chosen for a number of factors including its remoteness, sound geology and the ambient temperature of the permafrost.

[88] Off-road motorised transport is prohibited on bare ground, but snowmobiles are used extensively during winter—both for commercial and recreational activities.