Geography of Svalbard
| Location: | Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway |
| Geographic coordinates: | 78 00 N, 20 00 E |
| Map references: | Arctic Region |
| Area: | total: 61,020 sq km land: 61,020 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) |
| Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
| Land boundaries: | 0 km |
| Coastline: | 3,587 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 4 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia |
| Climate: | arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year |
| Terrain: | wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m |
| Natural resources: | coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish |
| Land use: | arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | NA |
| Natural hazards: | ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic |
| Environment - current issues: | NA |
| Geography - note: | northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; site of future seed repository under construction by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government |