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 LONGYEARBYEN
John Munro Longyear of Marquette, Michigan,
built the first house on the site in 1906 and took the lead in developing
massive coal fields of the Spitzbergen Archipelago.
Coal deposits were discovered there in the 19th century, and mining
did not really begin until 1905. Longyear sold out in 1916 to the
Store Norske Spitsbergen kullkompani which continued to use American
mining methods.
More and more people (1600 inhabitants) are living in Longyearbyen,
but now the primary activity is tourism, and service-related fields.
In addition there are several scientific enterprises, including UNIS
- the University courses on Svalbard, an auroral research station,
EISCAT - the European Scattering Radar, Svalsat - a satellite station
for contacting satellites in polar orbits and several others.
There is a wide range of accommodation alternatives available in Longyearbyen,
from guesthouses to full service, high quality hotels.
Longyearbyen also has a camping, near the airport, which is the northernmost
camping of the world.
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