onour tripwasapolarbear,despite the fact that in
Longyearbyenyoucanbarelywalk10metreswithout
seeingapictureofone.Everyonehere lovesagood
polarbearyarn–“Thisonebrokemydoordown, that
onewreckedmysnowmobile”–andat theStatoil
petrol station, there’saseriesofphotographsofabear
encirclingacarwithmenacing intent.
Forus, theweatherwas toobad toride
snowmobiles to theeastcoast,whereyouhave the
bestchanceofasighting.Despiteproblems for the
polarbear, fromshrinking icecaps tooil spillsand
lowreproductiverates,Svalbard isoneof the few
placeswherepolarbearpopulationsareactually
rising (up tomore than3,000).Still, it’ssaid that for
everyoneyousee (and it’snotguaranteed, evenon
tripsspecifically for thepurpose),ninewill seeyou.
Wedidn’tseeany,but itdidn’tmatterabit.The
polarbearmay thesymbolofSvalbard,but there
are thousandsof reasons tocomeherebesides.
Anticipatingour trip,weexpected tohavecabin
feverby theendand tobedesperate to leave. Instead,
wecamebackdreamingof snowmobilecommutes,
endlessskiesandaplacewheremostpeopleseem
genuinelyoptimistic.We’veevenbeendaydreaming
aboutwhat itwouldbe like topermanentlysetup
shoponSvalbard. Inotherwords,wegot itbad–we
welland trulycaught theArcticBug.
Mining:
NOK2billion
Tourism:
NOK317million
Research:
NOK142million
(2007figures)
250m
500m
1bn
1,25bn
1,5bn
1,75bn
2bn
Until 1989,
Longyearbyenwas
essentially runby
the StoreNorske
mining company,
whicheven gave
Spitsbergen its own
currency. After
opening up in the
1990s, science and
tourismemerged
as theothermain
sources of income.
In2006, locals here
earned an averageof
NOK495,000, 23per
centmore thanon
themainland, which
ismadeevenbetter
by the fact there’s
noVAT and relatively
low income tax.
Whatmakes
thecash
Money and
thecapital
n
—Svalbard
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