Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is one of the world's northernmost settlements, with an estimated population of around 2,400–2,800, and is the capital and largest settled area of Svalbard. 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. Wikipedia
Population 2,417 (Wikidata)
Before you go
Emergency numbers in Norway
Getting there
Remembered in this browser only, with the last few you used.
Best-documented sights
All of them in the guide-
North Pole Expedition Museum Museum · 540 m -
Svalbard Museum Museum · 430 m - WildPhoto Travel Museum · 290 m
- Svalbard Husky Attraction · 740 m
- John Munro Longyear memorial Memorial · 740 m
- Taubanesentralen Monument · 910 m
Within a kilometre of the centre, ordered by how well documented each is — not by a "best" anyone decided. Each opens on the map in the guide. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited there.
Through the year
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Polarjazz
February
Polarjazz or The Polar Jazz Festival (initiated 1998 in Longyearbyen, Svalbard) is the northernmost jazz festival in the world, and is arranged every year in February.
Annual events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage (Longyearbyen); descriptions from Wikipedia where it has one, photos from Wikimedia Commons. Dates move year to year — check before you plan around one.
Getting around
Places © OpenStreetMap contributors, as of 9 October 2026. Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage, population from Wikidata.