Moving to Svalbard is not as easy as you make out. You won’t be allowed to buy property there if you aren’t a long established Norwegian. Very few properties change hands and newcomers are vetted before being allowed to buy a home there. That means in practice, looking for somewhere to rent. You can’t give birth there, a consideration for young couples setting up home. It’s possible to hire a polar bear guard for trips outside the town, who carry a gun and frequently take a dog - huskies and polar bears are traditional enemies. There are about 10 people who live in Pyramiden, with a restaurant being about the only thing there. I think it may be able to accommodate people overnight. Longyearbyen has one hotel, called the North Pole. Ny Alesund is pronounced “noo Alesund”, the “ny” being pronounced “noo” in Norwegian. There are year round flights to Longyearbyen, which has a surprisingly long runway and can and does have quite large airliners landing there. Ny Alesund has the fastest WiFi I’ve ever encountered, but no mobile coverage. The climate as you mentioned is about the warmest in the world for that latitude, I remember watching a weather forecast from Tromso in January showing a temperature of about -12 deg C where we were and only -1 deg C on Svalbard.
My bigger concern would be costs. I hear the salaries there are larger than the mainland, most of the housing is provided by companies, and thus you would probably need to be rich if you wanted to move there without intending to work at the companies.
Well, anyone that is a citizen of a country that signed the Svalbard treaty in 1925 and perhaps more importantly, can find employment and housing. I spent quite some time living in a corner of a hardware store while working as a taxi driver in Longyearbyen. Accommodation is hard to come by, very expensive and often quite creative
There is almost nonjobbs in Svalbard. There is no help if you come with out jobb. No where to get food or to live if you cant pay for it. Extremely important to know
@@MarkV-j5j no available jobbs then. Some countries likes sending refugees there. Or people thinks it's just fly there.and think they find a job and some where to live. Well, if you walk over to the ruasians they might hire you. They are there to rebuild the soviet union.
@@kristofferkaaling8795yeah because svalbard is an important part of that.. wut you smokin half the world operates like you think Russia does and it's still a far cry from the Soviet Union. Russia Russia because someone tells you too. Yet no chin a chin a only what your told to think.
@highlandcow4765 well I can say for sure that some Swedish immigration officers have told refugees to go there as they couldn't get asylum in Sweden. Very dark people/ignorant officers that said stuff like that. I think they put a stop to it tho. The department of migration in Sweden is a bad dark place. Very good at breaking the international law for protecting children on an ongoing basis. Tho they do what the government put the rules to be. Sending kids back into war zones or to live in refugee camps. Its a sick system.
I visited Spitsbergen in the mid-80's. We were on a cruise and spent the 4th of July in Longyearbyen. It was different than anything I had ever done before. It was the first and only time I've seen polar bears out of a zoo!
A whole video about Svalbard and you didn't even mention the Doomsday Svalbard Global Seed Vault? Pretty sure that's the most famous current focus for the archipelago.
Places near an ocean, especially islands, always have more moderate temperatures (thanks to all the water) than places hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest coastline.
I have to comment on the Narration. Unlike 90% of UA-cam, the voiceover is _not_ robotic, and is read in conversational tones giving the strong impression that the reader actually understands what he is saying. Bravo.
@@gaminawulfsdottir3253 agreed. But he should have checked on how to pronounce words and names . I had to stop listening after he butchered Ny Ålesund.
A remote settlement where everyone works in a hostile environment long term would be somewhat similar to a remote settlement on a moon, asteroid, or Mars. Would be a good long term study. And a way to prepare future colony candidates, for a taste of what they are buying into as far as isolation and a small community of daily interactions. Best determine if you have second thoughts about Mars, while still on earth. Mars will pretty much be a one way trip of constant uncertainty and stress.
No one’s going to mars just like no one went to the moon. Apollo 11 lost the tapes because Evan if we did go to the moon it wasn’t that important to find them. Than they wasted more money spending 8 years looking for the tapes. No one write original moon landing on that dvd.
One think I'd like to mention. As the map does not use the Mercator projection: Spitzbergen is actually of a size, little less than Iceland. Or comparable to Ireland. Washington is about twice the size. And Hawaii stretches further from east to west. So Spitzbergen is a lot smaller than it actually looks on the map.
@ahha6304 I have heard that said about my native language, English. And I can't disagree after thinking about it! Learning yours might just be an interesting challenge though. Best part is learning Thai Cuisine. I have started dipping into it and your food is amazing! A gateway for myself into the rest of what your culture has to offer.
@@kemsatofficial bold of you to assume they have cheap stable high speed internet. Or any high speed internet. Or any internet that won't break your bank.
@@ahha6304 Thai is a lot easier than Chinese, and has a phonetic alphabet, so you can sound out words you can't remember the spelling for. Nice to be able to read a menu or a bus destination without much problem.
Cool and informative video, thank you. I watched expecting you to mention the Seed Vault, which I don't think you did (oops if I missed it lol). I learned a lot about the place anyway and found this very interesting.
No government ? Svalbard lies under the sovereignty of Norway ! But, because of the Svalbard-Treaty Norway can not use it for military purposes and must protect it's environment.
You forgot to mention that one would first need to be hired by one of the companies in Svalbard in order to immigrate there. Its not as easy as, hey lets pack up and go!
"Anyone can move to!" "Shows map: unless you're not part of the treaty showing half of earth is excluded!" ....i just want to exist and live in peace..is there any corner in this world where i can just exist live and die in peace without the world chasing me out of existence..
Tennisers, your try at "thinking" and coming up with a meaningful conclusion to your existential questions have come out short my friend, trust me, keep trying and you'll find it otherwise, existence isn't chasing anyone out otherwise you wouldn't have existed had it wanted it so, it's always the same thing, entitled, miserable, ungrateful, purposeless, resentful psychopaths that keep trying to chase the rest of humans out of existence to have it all for themselves, the only problem is they keep finding a way to gain power to inflict on humanity the misery they want us to feel, and humanity is unfortunately in such deep sleep to it all happening and repeating, "much of the evil in this world is due to the fact that man is hopelessly unconscious." C.G Jung, existence doesn't bring misery, miserable psychopaths bring misery to the rest of humanity.
Every year during the spring or summer an expedition goes to Svalbard to look for dinosaur bones. All members are required to take firearms training before going
@@MarkV-j5j Probably no eating them bc they're an endangered species. People might kill them and claim "self-defense" just to get the hide and/or eat them.
A place where it is MANDATORY to know how to handle weapons and carry them outside of setelments? Why is this island not full of US-citizens? The NRA couldn`t imagine a better place even if they tried!
@@jorgebarriosmur Learn the difference between the natural right to bear arms and defend one's self versus "I get to carry a gun and shoot bears" mentality. Think.
Interesting video. NB: Isforden: "EEs-fyoren". Longyearbyen: long-year-BEE-en; "byen" is the definite form of "by" meaning town/city. Barentsz: BAR-ents; accent on the first syllable. Barentsburgs: BAR-ents-burg; again accent on first syllable. Ny-ålesund: nee-OLE-eh-sund; å is a long O sound. I wouldn't bother pointing these out but this is meant to be a geography channel.
I remember a UA-cam video where a young woman living in Svalbard was taking her dog for a walk. She prepped for the walk by readying her shotgun and checking her ammo. The shotgun stays by the front door, ready for whenever you might need to go outside. Highlights of the walk were the clear bright nighttime sky with aurora borealis, constant checking for bears, and a blinding whiteout windstorm. This was all 100% normal as far as she was concerned. When she returned home she showed us her home office where she works remotely via the internet. Her office has therapy lighting to combat depression from the constant Winter darkness.
Svalbard is definitely one of the most unique places on Earth! The idea that anyone can move there, regardless of nationality, is so fascinating. Would you dare to live in such an extreme environment? 🤔
@@SiberianSwordsman It's clearly more northern than the Arctic circle - I agree the illustration was kinda strange but it seemed to go near 90°N, or the North pole...
May have been said already but I'm pretty sure the northern most continuously inhabited place is Alert, nunavut canada. Granted it it mostly just a military base it is staffed year round and there is even a tim Hortons up there
@juliachildress2943 True. I know booking an Airbnb on Svalbard is quite expensive so I'm guessing having a meal in a restaurant there would be equally as expensive. Plus, as a visitor you can't leave the main town without a rifle so maybe you'd be as well off trying to shoot something you could eat outside town and bringing it back to cook. That's if you could actually find any wildlife there. At least then you could get some value out of renting a rifle. Edit : I just had a quick look at Airbnb and you can book a room for €93 per night in January which isn't too bad. The only problem is that the temperature is currently -25° and there is 24hrs darkness.
@@bustabloodvessel5327 If you want to leave town for an adventure, there are several companies that can take you to the glaciers, mountains, snowmobiling, etc. and the company provides the security. If you want to explore on your own, you would need the firearm and the shooting skills. Hunting is very limited and highly regulated on Svalbard, and you can't kill a polar bear unless it's pretty much your life or theirs.
I couldn't read the website because I don't know the language, but I think a hotel room is about 265 dollars a night, so almost 8k USD a month to rent a room.
Also Germans - - I took German in high school and tried to practice speaking it while in Germany, which would result in interactions such as: "Mein English ist besser than your Cherman, therefore ve vill schpeak English."
@@jim.franklin The funny thing is, I spent a month hitchhiking around Turkey, and about half of the Turks spoke German from working as a Gastarbeiter, so now my German is pretty good but with a Turkish accent (aussprache)!
@@goldfieldgary I worked hard to learn Danish back in the 1990s as I worked there for a year - hard when they all speak English - but I so rarely use it now that I would not insult their language. Same problem with French, trying to rekindle my teenage memories at school as we now have a house in the French Alps - seems rude not to try, but its painful for the locals who just smile polititely and correct my mistakes!
Svalbard is, aside from a handful of military bases, the northernmost permanently inhabited part of the world; indeed, Canadian Forces Station Alert in Nunavut remains the northernmost permanently inhabited settlement, military or civilian, anywhere in the world, but unlike to Svalbard, there are no regularly scheduled flights to the Canadian military base.
When the Norwegian Blue species of parrot was considered endangered in the 1970s, a small population was relocated from Norway to Svalbard. This turned out to be a great choice as the fjords there proved beneficial to their well-being. In fact, the Svalbard population of Norwegian Blues Is on track to surpass that of their native Norway by 2050. Something about the ecology of the fjords there seems to drastically reduce incidences of pining among other maladies. Surf Wisely.
Sounds great! It's winter here and I actually have the air conditioner on... Actually, I guess they are dependent on getting things shipped in, so perhaps not quite so great. I like being able to be self-sufficient if necessary. Cheers.
Interesting to hear the island can occasionally hit 21c in summer, think I once heard some place at the north pole has reached 30c in summer.. Norway can occasionally get hot too in summer if right weather pattern sets up...
It's virtually impossible to move there unless you know someone you can stay with, you're going to the university, or you have a job that includes a place to live. Otherwise, you will be in for a long wait for an apartment to come available.
Brazil is a signatory to the Svalbard Treaty, which grants access to the area's resources for signatory nations and recognizes Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago. The treaty was ratified by Brazil in 2022.
Is Ny-Alesund, at 746 miles from North Pole, really "the world's northernmost permanent research settlement?" What about Alert, in Canada, at 508 miles from North Pole?
Language changes. Literally. If everyone starts using a word to mean something it wasn't supposed to it will change its meaning to the common usage. Literally being the most common example I can think of.
@@spliffdelakong5422 Fully agreed. But that's like saying "climate changes". Some people believe that some changes should be resisted, while others don't. It's a philosophical difference and I respect that
@@spliffdelakong5422 absolutely. I was just reading about how the word "literally" is now commonly used in a figurative manner. Go figure....pun intended.
I think the Thai people moved there to open a Thai restaurant. You forgot to mention that dying is illegal on this island, because the frozen ground makes digging graves impossible.
Just one important question. Is it legal to die there( or, within the doctrines or laws )? In other words, given the obvious solid obstacles and frozen implications when it comes to burial, is a person whether a local or not allowed to die there without facing exfiltration or potential legal ramifications?
Hmmm, I'm kinda looking for a place to stay for the next 4 years....what's the cost of living? As in if I work remotely, what sort of salary would I need to survive?
This is the first youtube I watched in 2025, and I learned a ton, and it surprised me. Always amazes me how much bigger my mind gets to be if I just hang out with mah cool dudes and dudettes on youtube ^___^ Keep rockn' hard and rock'n on every1 and wish you a wonderful 2025 despite four more years of Trump dynasty..
There are a couple things that seem incorrect in the video: Thai people are the second most common foreign nationals in the Norwegian settlements specifically. That isn't accounting for the Russian settlements so Russians are the second most common foreign nationals (though their numbers are decreasing). Also, you do not need to be from a treaty signatory country to move to Svalbard. A quote from the former governor of Svalbard: "It has been a chosen policy so far that we haven't made any difference between the treaty citizens and those from outside the treaty". Sources: Middleton A. Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends. Polar Record. 2023;59:e14. doi:10.1017/S0032247423000050 Sokolickova, Z. (2022) ‘The Golden Opportunity? Migration to Svalbard from Thailand and the Philippines’, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 12(3), p. 293-309. Available at: doi.org/10.33134/njmr.488. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Svalbard
Is it just me or does it look like Thailand is among the highlighted non treaty signing countries on the map @ 8:33 whose citizens can't move there? ( Even though Thai immigrants are 2nd in number only to Norwegians)
@@tasherlosenegger Ok, there in lies the reason for my confusion, wrong facts were stated in the video. I was only going by the information that was presented in the video.
Moving to Svalbard is not as easy as you make out. You won’t be allowed to buy property there if you aren’t a long established Norwegian. Very few properties change hands and newcomers are vetted before being allowed to buy a home there. That means in practice, looking for somewhere to rent. You can’t give birth there, a consideration for young couples setting up home.
It’s possible to hire a polar bear guard for trips outside the town, who carry a gun and frequently take a dog - huskies and polar bears are traditional enemies. There are about 10 people who live in Pyramiden, with a restaurant being about the only thing there. I think it may be able to accommodate people overnight. Longyearbyen has one hotel, called the North Pole.
Ny Alesund is pronounced “noo Alesund”, the “ny” being pronounced “noo” in Norwegian. There are year round flights to Longyearbyen, which has a surprisingly long runway and can and does have quite large airliners landing there.
Ny Alesund has the fastest WiFi I’ve ever encountered, but no mobile coverage. The climate as you mentioned is about the warmest in the world for that latitude, I remember watching a weather forecast from Tromso in January showing a temperature of about -12 deg C where we were and only -1 deg C on Svalbard.
There are a number of hotels in Longyearbyen, including the Radisson Blu Polar. Perhaps you were thinking of another, smaller settlement?
You can't give birth? So universal abortions?
My bigger concern would be costs. I hear the salaries there are larger than the mainland, most of the housing is provided by companies, and thus you would probably need to be rich if you wanted to move there without intending to work at the companies.
How exactly do they stop you from giving birth?
@@barbarakiewe4917 it's just illegal probably. People don't stop crimes we prosecute them.
Well, anyone that is a citizen of a country that signed the Svalbard treaty in 1925 and perhaps more importantly, can find employment and housing. I spent quite some time living in a corner of a hardware store while working as a taxi driver in Longyearbyen. Accommodation is hard to come by, very expensive and often quite creative
There is almost nonjobbs in Svalbard. There is no help if you come with out jobb. No where to get food or to live if you cant pay for it. Extremely important to know
@@MarkV-j5j😂😂😂
@@MarkV-j5j no available jobbs then. Some countries likes sending refugees there. Or people thinks it's just fly there.and think they find a job and some where to live. Well, if you walk over to the ruasians they might hire you. They are there to rebuild the soviet union.
@@kristofferkaaling8795yeah because svalbard is an important part of that.. wut you smokin half the world operates like you think Russia does and it's still a far cry from the Soviet Union. Russia Russia because someone tells you too. Yet no chin a chin a only what your told to think.
What, you don't get put up in a hotel, shocking.
@highlandcow4765 well I can say for sure that some Swedish immigration officers have told refugees to go there as they couldn't get asylum in Sweden. Very dark people/ignorant officers that said stuff like that. I think they put a stop to it tho. The department of migration in Sweden is a bad dark place. Very good at breaking the international law for protecting children on an ongoing basis. Tho they do what the government put the rules to be. Sending kids back into war zones or to live in refugee camps. Its a sick system.
Looking forward to the next two months of “move to Svalbard” intrusive thoughts
@@vianegativa9049 yeah, but Brrrrr!
That's hardcore !
"but, I, i want to go to Canada 🥺"
@@vianegativa9049 ha ha ha, same!!
Omg, yes! 😂😂
I visited Spitsbergen in the mid-80's. We were on a cruise and spent the 4th of July in Longyearbyen. It was different than anything I had ever done before. It was the first and only time I've seen polar bears out of a zoo!
So July is a good month to see polar bears then?
A whole video about Svalbard and you didn't even mention the Doomsday Svalbard Global Seed Vault? Pretty sure that's the most famous current focus for the archipelago.
also "please don't die with disease at Longyearbyen"
I kept waiting for him to mention the seed vault. I'm surprised he didn't.
good god. you people are tiring.
@@Jojo-bm4tb The worlds largest Doomsday vault are always mentioned in Svalbard videos.
The second largest is in India, Himalayas.
@@Mike-kc5ew yeah the thing everyone already fucking knows about ?
Longyearbyen was one of the most amazing places I've had the privilege of experiencing.
I live in Canada, only a few hours north of Montana, and it gets colder here than Svalbard.
Places near an ocean, especially islands, always have more moderate temperatures (thanks to all the water) than places hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest coastline.
Doesn't it normally reach -30 C in the prairies during winter?
@@JcDizon Yes, every winter. Not too long ago it was -38
@Kered-9 I live in Saskatoon and I agree with you ! it gets to -30s for weeks
lol Do you get colder than Montana? 😊
Absolutely facinating. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
I have to comment on the Narration. Unlike 90% of UA-cam, the voiceover is _not_ robotic, and is read in conversational tones giving the strong impression that the reader actually understands what he is saying. Bravo.
@@gaminawulfsdottir3253 hell yeah!
I LOVE real narration and not AI.
@@gaminawulfsdottir3253 agreed.
But he should have checked on how to pronounce words and names . I had to stop listening after he butchered Ny Ålesund.
@@mattnelsontx or Barentsz
@@mattnelsontx Not everyone can pronounce every word in every language perfectly like you.
Thank you. Always been intrigued by northern places like this, Greenland etc.
@@360Birdman Perhaps South Georgia Islands are of comparable interest
Ive been considering moving to longyearbyen for a few years now. What a cool video to see. Shoutout to everyone in svalbard rn
BY!
A remote settlement where everyone works in a hostile environment long term would be somewhat similar to a remote settlement on a moon, asteroid, or Mars.
Would be a good long term study. And a way to prepare future colony candidates, for a taste of what they are buying into as far as isolation and a small community of daily interactions.
Best determine if you have second thoughts about Mars, while still on earth. Mars will pretty much be a one way trip of constant uncertainty and stress.
No one’s going to mars just like no one went to the moon. Apollo 11 lost the tapes because Evan if we did go to the moon it wasn’t that important to find them. Than they wasted more money spending 8 years looking for the tapes. No one write original moon landing on that dvd.
One think I'd like to mention. As the map does not use the Mercator projection: Spitzbergen is actually of a size, little less than Iceland. Or comparable to Ireland. Washington is about twice the size. And Hawaii stretches further from east to west.
So Spitzbergen is a lot smaller than it actually looks on the map.
About half the land area of New Zealand.
Great video, but what about the seed vault?
Exactly!!!
Good question
And the hexagonal rock deposits from melting glaciers?? That's driven by entropy, as I understand it.
Every geography enthusiast knows about it already
It's a plant video, there's no point talking about interesting things for a plant like this guy.
This map projection warping is nuts.
You make great videos, man!
This...this is just Skyrim...
No matter what the topic is, you will never fail to find at least one reference to some pop cultural media in the comment section
More like Atmora 😂
I think i saw the Greybeards. 😅
@@ryansmurda1552 How's it goin, Deadhead👍
@@charjl96 it's as if nothing exist inside a vacuum
Seems like an awesome place if you can work from home. Could have a good time learning Norwegian & Thai, too.
You don't wanna learn Thai, it's brutal and has too many tricks... unless you love challenge, and I'm telling you as a native Thai
@@kemsatofficial Thailand? nope
@ahha6304 I have heard that said about my native language, English. And I can't disagree after thinking about it!
Learning yours might just be an interesting challenge though.
Best part is learning Thai Cuisine. I have started dipping into it and your food is amazing! A gateway for myself into the rest of what your culture has to offer.
@@kemsatofficial bold of you to assume they have cheap stable high speed internet. Or any high speed internet. Or any internet that won't break your bank.
@@ahha6304 Thai is a lot easier than Chinese, and has a phonetic alphabet, so you can sound out words you can't remember the spelling for. Nice to be able to read a menu or a bus destination without much problem.
Cool and informative video, thank you. I watched expecting you to mention the Seed Vault, which I don't think you did (oops if I missed it lol). I learned a lot about the place anyway and found this very interesting.
An armed island full of polar bears, close to no border policies, and close to no govt. Sounds fun.
Like a tiny America
No government, sounds fantastic.
No government ? Svalbard lies under the sovereignty of Norway ! But, because of the Svalbard-Treaty Norway can not use it for military purposes and must protect it's environment.
Talk dirty to me
It's fantastic. No crime other than some drunk who might accidentally wander into your apartment thinking he's home, or taking your boots by accident.
You forgot to mention that one would first need to be hired by one of the companies in Svalbard in order to immigrate there. Its not as easy as, hey lets pack up and go!
@@F700ff that’s not accurate. The requirement is you have to be able to afford to live there.
Nice summary. I’ve been fascinated by the place since watching Morten Hilmer’s videos of wildlife photography there.
You forgot the world's largest seed Vault. I love how beautiful it is there.
"Anyone can move to!"
"Shows map: unless you're not part of the treaty showing half of earth is excluded!"
....i just want to exist and live in peace..is there any corner in this world where i can just exist live and die in peace without the world chasing me out of existence..
Grab a backpack, walk away and never come back
Try Northeast Russia
Northeast russia, very little info to go on could you please elaborate? Appreciate it.
The world doesn’t chase you out of existence, existence chases you out of existence.
Tennisers, your try at "thinking" and coming up with a meaningful conclusion to your existential questions have come out short my friend, trust me, keep trying and you'll find it otherwise, existence isn't chasing anyone out otherwise you wouldn't have existed had it wanted it so, it's always the same thing, entitled, miserable, ungrateful, purposeless, resentful psychopaths that keep trying to chase the rest of humans out of existence to have it all for themselves, the only problem is they keep finding a way to gain power to inflict on humanity the misery they want us to feel, and humanity is unfortunately in such deep sleep to it all happening and repeating, "much of the evil in this world is due to the fact that man is hopelessly unconscious." C.G Jung, existence doesn't bring misery, miserable psychopaths bring misery to the rest of humanity.
You should do a video on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington
Thanks for the short educational. Vedios. .
Theres a Circle K there. You can survive.
I'm Canadian, I can survive anywhere where it's cold. 😎
Add a Waffle House, and I'll race ya. 😂
Strange things are afoot there, though
Yep you can buy Gummy Bears and Snickers bars at a convenience store in the Arctic.
@@Hollyucinogen That's because Circle K is actually a Canadian-owned company.
I thought that anyone in the world could live and work in Svalbard. I didn't realise it was restricted to citizens of certain countries.
Fantastic video!
I’m a simple man, I see Svalbard I click
Every year during the spring or summer an expedition goes to Svalbard to look for dinosaur bones. All members are required to take firearms training before going
@@MarkV-j5j Probably no eating them bc they're an endangered species. People might kill them and claim "self-defense" just to get the hide and/or eat them.
And I'd bet not one of them could hit a polar bear 15yds (14.7 mtrs, 45 Feet) out if their life depends on it.
Go polar bears!!! Yeah!
A place where it is MANDATORY to know how to handle weapons and carry them outside of setelments? Why is this island not full of US-citizens? The NRA couldn`t imagine a better place even if they tried!
@@jorgebarriosmur Learn the difference between the natural right to bear arms and defend one's self versus "I get to carry a gun and shoot bears" mentality. Think.
Interesting video. NB: Isforden: "EEs-fyoren". Longyearbyen: long-year-BEE-en; "byen" is the definite form of "by" meaning town/city. Barentsz: BAR-ents; accent on the first syllable. Barentsburgs: BAR-ents-burg; again accent on first syllable. Ny-ålesund: nee-OLE-eh-sund; å is a long O sound. I wouldn't bother pointing these out but this is meant to be a geography channel.
It's run by an american, what do you expect...
I am always amazed at the extreme environments people move to.
There are some video clips from other places in this video. There are no trees on Svalbard 1:30 and 1:44
I remember a UA-cam video where a young woman living in Svalbard was taking her dog for a walk. She prepped for the walk by readying her shotgun and checking her ammo. The shotgun stays by the front door, ready for whenever you might need to go outside. Highlights of the walk were the clear bright nighttime sky with aurora borealis, constant checking for bears, and a blinding whiteout windstorm. This was all 100% normal as far as she was concerned. When she returned home she showed us her home office where she works remotely via the internet. Her office has therapy lighting to combat depression from the constant Winter darkness.
How long you been in Longyearbyen?
Been a long year in Longyearbyen
Svalbard is definitely one of the most unique places on Earth! The idea that anyone can move there, regardless of nationality, is so fascinating. Would you dare to live in such an extreme environment? 🤔
Am immediately moving there
Your line labeled north pole is probably the artic circle.
@@SiberianSwordsman It's clearly more northern than the Arctic circle - I agree the illustration was kinda strange but it seemed to go near 90°N, or the North pole...
Arctic circle is further south.
Any geography video that shows the North Pole as a line, not a point, is criminally wrong. Can this be banned? Used as the worst geography ever?
He stated in the video "halfway between mainland Norway and north pole" ...that's what the line is.
Anyone else only know Svalbard existed because of Phillip Pullman? I'm just here for the armored bears.
May have been said already but I'm pretty sure the northern most continuously inhabited place is Alert, nunavut canada. Granted it it mostly just a military base it is staffed year round and there is even a tim Hortons up there
I’ve lived in really warm weather places my whole life. I would not mind trying a cold place but Svalbard is probably too cold 😮
No worries those fluffy bears keep you warm😊
The lack of sunlight for much of the year is usually what gets to people the most, same as on the mainland. Regular vitamin D intake helps a lot
1:49
FUN FACT: Longyearbyen is Svalbard's capital.
Long year byen?
@@charjl96 Yup.
Not fun.
Norwegian food and Thai food, wow, what a mix 😊 Cindy especially soup 🍲
@@cynthiataylor2092 Red curry reindeer is on my list now!
Once upon a time you had to be a hardcore Arctic explorer to go and stay there. Now all you have to do is book an Airbnb on your phone.
And now you can also have a fabulous breakfast, lunch or dinner in a cozy, warm restaurant.
@juliachildress2943 True. I know booking an Airbnb on Svalbard is quite expensive so I'm guessing having a meal in a restaurant there would be equally as expensive. Plus, as a visitor you can't leave the main town without a rifle so maybe you'd be as well off trying to shoot something you could eat outside town and bringing it back to cook. That's if you could actually find any wildlife there. At least then you could get some value out of renting a rifle.
Edit : I just had a quick look at Airbnb and you can book a room for €93 per night in January which isn't too bad. The only problem is that the temperature is currently -25° and there is 24hrs darkness.
@@bustabloodvessel5327 If you want to leave town for an adventure, there are several companies that can take you to the glaciers, mountains, snowmobiling, etc. and the company provides the security. If you want to explore on your own, you would need the firearm and the shooting skills. Hunting is very limited and highly regulated on Svalbard, and you can't kill a polar bear unless it's pretty much your life or theirs.
10:26 The guy on the right couldn't hold it any longer
*Good video!*
Golden opportunity to talk about Pyramiden, it is utterly fascinating and one of the unique places on earth. You missed one there Geoff.
I couldn't read the website because I don't know the language, but I think a hotel room is about 265 dollars a night, so almost 8k USD a month to rent a room.
Despite the challenges, I am more tempted to move there for arctic off grid though I should learn to speak Norwegian just in case.
Norwegians, like Danes, Swedes and Fins, all learn English at school, and most speak it better than most native English speakers.
Also Germans - - I took German in high school and tried to practice speaking it while in Germany, which would result in interactions such as: "Mein English ist besser than your Cherman, therefore ve vill schpeak English."
@@goldfieldgary Had that one too!!
@@jim.franklin The funny thing is, I spent a month hitchhiking around Turkey, and about half of the Turks spoke German from working as a Gastarbeiter, so now my German is pretty good but with a Turkish accent (aussprache)!
@@goldfieldgary I worked hard to learn Danish back in the 1990s as I worked there for a year - hard when they all speak English - but I so rarely use it now that I would not insult their language. Same problem with French, trying to rekindle my teenage memories at school as we now have a house in the French Alps - seems rude not to try, but its painful for the locals who just smile polititely and correct my mistakes!
my god I think I want to live in Svalbard
Svalbard is, aside from a handful of military bases, the northernmost permanently inhabited part of the world; indeed, Canadian Forces Station Alert in Nunavut remains the northernmost permanently inhabited settlement, military or civilian, anywhere in the world, but unlike to Svalbard, there are no regularly scheduled flights to the Canadian military base.
@@wainber1 Thule does regular flights.
Can someone with warrants in their home country move there? Asking for a friend.
It's strange to think that even greenland has more inhabitants
When the Norwegian Blue species of parrot was considered endangered in the 1970s, a small population was relocated from Norway to Svalbard. This turned out to be a great choice as the fjords there proved beneficial to their well-being.
In fact, the Svalbard population of Norwegian Blues Is on track to surpass that of their native Norway by 2050. Something about the ecology of the fjords there seems to drastically reduce incidences of pining among other maladies.
Surf Wisely.
Sounds great! It's winter here and I actually have the air conditioner on... Actually, I guess they are dependent on getting things shipped in, so perhaps not quite so great. I like being able to be self-sufficient if necessary. Cheers.
Interesting to hear the island can occasionally hit 21c in summer, think I once heard some place at the north pole has reached 30c in summer.. Norway can occasionally get hot too in summer if right weather pattern sets up...
I already live in coastal Alaska. It's cold and damp enough and there's still plenty of Norwegians to eat here.
You eat Norwegians?
@@thecuriousboardgamer What else are they good for?
It's virtually impossible to move there unless you know someone you can stay with, you're going to the university, or you have a job that includes a place to live. Otherwise, you will be in for a long wait for an apartment to come available.
I've always wanted to run the marathon held there. But I also would love to move there just to live/retire.
Need to practice Thai. To move to Svalbard.
Polar regions will heat up at a faster rate that equatorial areas. Getting ahead of the game and opening a Club Med in Svalbard next year
Brazil is a signatory to the Svalbard Treaty, which grants access to the area's resources for signatory nations and recognizes Norway's sovereignty over the archipelago. The treaty was ratified by Brazil in 2022.
Is Ny-Alesund, at 746 miles from North Pole, really "the world's northernmost permanent research settlement?" What about Alert, in Canada, at 508 miles from North Pole?
Does Amazon deliver? And do people have pets?
It may be worth noting that "decimated" means "reduced by 10%", not "nearly wiped out" as in the case of the bowhead whales.
Language changes. Literally. If everyone starts using a word to mean something it wasn't supposed to it will change its meaning to the common usage. Literally being the most common example I can think of.
@@spliffdelakong5422 Fully agreed. But that's like saying "climate changes". Some people believe that some changes should be resisted, while others don't. It's a philosophical difference and I respect that
@@spliffdelakong5422 absolutely. I was just reading about how the word "literally" is now commonly used in a figurative manner. Go figure....pun intended.
My dad worked on drilling rigs in 1978 on Svalbard
That’s where Iorek Byrnison lives 😊
When did they stay keeping temperature records there?
I really wanna live there :D
I think the Thai people moved there to open a Thai restaurant. You forgot to mention that dying is illegal on this island, because the frozen ground makes digging graves impossible.
Nobody is forbidden to die anywhere, we stopped burying people in the permafrost well over 100 years ago
The bears take care of it.
I wouldn’t want to live there knowing the challenges.
Just one important question. Is it legal to die there( or, within the doctrines or laws )?
In other words, given the obvious solid obstacles and frozen implications when it comes to burial, is a person whether a local or not allowed to die there without facing exfiltration or potential legal ramifications?
Svalbard is a great band!
Where are the armored bears?
1:43 Location of the fjord in the photo?
Hmmm, I'm kinda looking for a place to stay for the next 4 years....what's the cost of living? As in if I work remotely, what sort of salary would I need to survive?
What is this issue about the Seed Vault.. I guess I will google it...
This is the first youtube I watched in 2025, and I learned a ton, and it surprised me. Always amazes me how much bigger my mind gets to be if I just hang out with mah cool dudes and dudettes on youtube ^___^ Keep rockn' hard and rock'n on every1 and wish you a wonderful 2025 despite four more years of Trump dynasty..
Fun fact Turkey officially became a signature country to the Svalbard Treaty on April 11th, 2024
i would actually love to move there.
This was today’s worldle. Literally never heard of it and this video pops out the same day
@@Kuya_G99 right! Same thought :)
Beautiful place. Can you ski, snowmobile?
I believe I'll stay put in Texas, thanks though. This was interesting!
Looking forward to exploring Pyrimidian for a new life
There are a couple things that seem incorrect in the video:
Thai people are the second most common foreign nationals in the Norwegian settlements specifically. That isn't accounting for the Russian settlements so Russians are the second most common foreign nationals (though their numbers are decreasing).
Also, you do not need to be from a treaty signatory country to move to Svalbard. A quote from the former governor of Svalbard: "It has been a chosen policy so far that we haven't made any difference between the treaty citizens and those from outside the treaty".
Sources:
Middleton A. Norwegian and Russian settlements on Svalbard: An analysis of demographic and socio-economic trends. Polar Record. 2023;59:e14. doi:10.1017/S0032247423000050
Sokolickova, Z. (2022) ‘The Golden Opportunity? Migration to Svalbard from Thailand and the Philippines’, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 12(3), p. 293-309. Available at: doi.org/10.33134/njmr.488.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Svalbard
Cold, Rugged and Inhospitable - sound like England, Wales, Scotland and Russia - 😁
Don't forget Iceland!!!
@@ludvikblondal9885 I find Icelandic people very welcoming and friendly..
I live in San Diego - - 21 - hardly. Mountains maybe.
The best part is it's illegal to die on Svalbard.
how can i apply to live there i have nothing to lose any way.
Does it have Ikea?
@MarkV-j5j ):
Ha ha ha!!!
Is it just me or does it look like Thailand is among the highlighted non treaty signing countries on the map @ 8:33 whose citizens can't move there? ( Even though Thai immigrants are 2nd in number only to Norwegians)
It's because your country doesn't actually need to have signed the treaty for you to move there, the video is wrong about that
@@tasherlosenegger Ok, there in lies the reason for my confusion, wrong facts were stated in the video. I was only going by the information that was presented in the video.
Good place to live only in summer
The perpetual daylight in not easy to bear
It looks mighty cold.
Would honestly love to move there if i could afford to do so XD
Sounds like a wonderful place IF one could afford to live there.
Greenland is roughly the size of Mexico but in the video it looks so huge
Cecilia Blomdahl has a great YT site about living in Svalbard...
Theoretically, Prince Sverre Magnus can move there, so that the House of Glucksburg (Oldenburg) can live on agnatically?