1,300 kilometers from the north pole is the town more northern inhabited of the world. We refer to the Norwegian people of Svalbard, an extreme region, a gigantic ice cream, much above the Arctic Circle where 2,500 people officially have Forbidden to die. And yet, what worries them most has nothing to do with their climate or geographical place.
What worries them most is that Russia is getting closer.
Forbidden to die. It We have counted. In Svalbard one of the most peculiar rules on the planet governs: it is Forbidden to die In Longyearbyen, its capital, because the permafrost prevents the decomposition of the corpses and preserves viruses and bacteria for decades, which was already checked when bodies buried in 1918 still contained traces of the Spanish flu virus.
Since 1950the cemeteries stopped accepting deceased and any seriously ill or elderly person must move to the continent to spend their last days there, while the few still visible burials are vestiges of previous times. The rule reflects both the hardness of living in the Arctic Like fragility of a settlement where life, and even death, is conditioned by ice eternal.
The new Arctic border. I told the weekend Bloomberg. On the top of the island of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago, Raise Svalsatthe largest earthly satellite station in the world, with 170 domes that connect every few seconds with satellites in polar orbit and provide critical data for weather, navigation, climate research and maritime security.
Its location, 78 degrees north and with access to airports and ice -free ports, it gives this Norwegian enclave a unique strategic relevance in an Arctic every time More disputed. Norway sees it as a Sovereignty symbol And it has expanded with energy and communications projects, collaborating with agencies such as NASA, ESA or Oneweb. However, the dependence of this technological node and its potential dual use reinforce the Russia tensionwhich accuses Oslo of rape Svalbard’s treaty When there are submarine cables and demonstrate too much emphasis on territorial control.
Svalbard Satellite Station
Russia and symbolic persistence. Just a few kilometers from Longyearbyenthe Norwegian capital of the archipelago, resists BARENTSBURGa Russian mining settlement that, with just 400 inhabitants, on Soviet flags and maintains a bust of Lenin as a reminder of its history. Managed by the state company Trust Arktikugolthe people have renewed facilities, open a gym, promoted tourism and signed agreements with Russian universities, although their mine lacks real economic viability.
In practice, it represents A strategic symbol For Moscow in the Arctic. After the invasion of Ukraine, the relations between the Norwegian and Russian communities cool: They canceled visits Tourist to Barentsburg, joint sports activities were suspended and many Ukrainian miners returned home. What previously survived the Cold War today has broken under the pressure of war and sanctions.
BARENTSBURG
Svalbard and uncertainty. The Norwegian government insists in that “Svalbard is as Norwegian as Oslo”, reinforcing his control through visits from authorities, indirect military presence and international projection. However, everyday reality is that of a community of 2,500 people of more than 50 nationalities, Tourism dependent And of expensive imports in a hostile environment where permafrost melts, basic services are limited and the last Norwegian coal mine is about to close.
The transition from an industrial past to a post -mimine economy leaves open questions: What will replace mining, how much tourism can be allowed and how to sustain a diverse population without causing internal tensions. The Life in Svalbardmarked by polar bears, mortal avalanches and the lack of maternity or geriatric centers, remember that there everyone lives in time borrowed. “
A global rivalry. The War in UkraineTrump’s gestures claiming Greenland and the Russian militarization of the Kola Peninsula have turned the north into an epicenter of Geopolitical rivalry. With the accelerated thaw opening routes such as the passage of the northeast and multiplying the strategic value of resources and communications, Svalbard emerges as a microcosm of the worldwide struggle: A place where science, defense and trade are intertwined with political symbols and sovereignty shocks.
For Longyearbyen residents, the transition has been palpable: from a mining people cohesive to a community exposed to global currents that generate diffuse identity and tensions with their Russian neighbors. As expressed A veteran resident, even in the coldest times of the cold war, local cooperation persisted. Now, that coexistence also seems lost, leaving Svalbard in the awkward first line of a new era of Arctic Competition.
Between tourism, science and climate. Plus: the mines It raises an economic vacuum that only partly They fill tourismincreasingly massive with the arrival of cruises, and scientific projects such as World Seed Bankwhich barely offer employment. Meanwhile, Arctic heating, four times faster That the global average melts permafrost and compromises infrastructure, makes energy more expensive and multiplies natural risks.
The dilemma of how much tourism growth accept, how to attract permanent families and what role in global research defines the next Svalbard stage. And in the midst of these tensions, the inhabitants try to maintain their identity and resilience, aware that they live in a territory where nature and Geopolitics They weigh as much as the will of their own residents.
Image | Sprok, Bernt Rostad
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