(Nigel Richardson/Telegraph, 30 December 2009) -- In the autumn of 1921, a Norwegian trapper called Georg Nilsen went polar bear hunting on the island of Spitsbergen, high in the Arctic Circle. He promised he would be back for Christmas, but he was never seen alive again. The mystery of Nilsen's fate persisted until 1965 when his skeletal remains were found along with his rifle, which had a cartridge jammed in the chamber. Betrayed by mechanical malfunction, the hunter had become the hunted. Nilsen was killed and eaten by a polar bear. His jammed rifle – now on display in Svalbard Museum on Spitsbergen – is a powerful symbol of the hardship, danger and mystery of this forbidding place. I thought of Nilsen as I stood on Cape Linné, in the far west of the island, where a radio station was built in 1933 to link Spitsbergen with the world. ...

Like the Wild West, the Arctic North has attracted characters and deeds of mythic proportions. Spitsbergen is the main island of the archipelago of Svalbard, 24,000 square miles of rock and glacier lived on by 2,500 people – and considerably more polar bears. For centuries Svalbard belonged to every nation and none. Dutch, Russians, Scandinavians and British all came here to kill whales and bears for blubber and fur, dig for coal, and prove themselves equal to some of the most arduous living conditions on earth. Since the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, the archipelago has officially belonged to Norway, but the 39 signatory nations – including the likes of Afghanistan and Venezuela as well as the major industrialised countries – have equal rights with Norway in terms of industrial, maritime and mining activities. And you can be sure that many have kept their finger in this particular frozen gateau.

In other words, Svalbard is still the Wild West – and a new frenzy of claim and counter-claim is about to break over its snowy head. As global warming melts the polar ice cap, competing nations are searching for oil beneath it – where an estimated quarter of the world's reserves are thought to lie – and shipping lanes through it.

(IceNews, 14 April 2009) -- The Norwegian government has submitted a white paper to parliament stating that it is finally prepared to nominate Svalbard for the UNESCO World Heritage List. This designation is the highest international status a landmark can be given, and would increase the pressure within Norway to protect the pristine region. The government did not state which parts of the expansive and remote Svalbard Islands it planned to designate, but alluded to the fact that this would be determined during the nomination process, SIKUnews reports.

Analysts believe they may try to nominate the area presently protected by the Svalbard Environmental Law, which was created by the Norwegian government to preserve the pristine archipelago. This area comprises 87 percent of the territorial waters and 65 percent of the landmass within the 12-nautical mile boundary currently under protection. Norway already has seven sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Svalbard has been a tentative nomination for two years already, but the government seems keen on finally pushing for its permanent protection. The application will be ready by the end of 2012, and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee will consider it at their meeting in 2014.

(Strana.ru via BarentsObserver, 22 December 2008) -- In order to strengthen its presence on the archipelago Svalbard, Russia plans to open a scientific station in the old mining village of Pyramiden.

Vice speaker in the Russian State Duma and special representative to the President on international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic, Artur Chilingarov, told that Russia has to prove its entitlement to the Arctic Shelf through presence in the area, news agency Strana reports. "We are going to be all over the Arctic," Chilingarov said. "We have opened a station on Franz Josef Land, where there has been no observation activity for 20 years, and we are re-establishing the network of polar stations. This is not just science; this is presence in the Arctic."

According to Chilingarov, Russia plans to build a scientific station and an observatory in already existing buildings in the old mining village Pyramiden in course of the next two years.

(NRK via BarentsObserver, 25 November 2008) -- The Norwegian governor of the Svalbard Archipelago today said that Russian activities at the archipelago will be subjected to new restrictions, NRK reports.  Several more Norwegian laws now apply also for Russian activities at the archipelago, Governor Per Sefland said in a public meeting today. The governor signaled that Norwegian authorities will tighten their grip over the Russian population at the far northern islands, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reports.

"From now on, the control of the Russian activities will be far stricter than before," Mr. Sefland said.About 500 Russians and Ukrainians now live and work in the settlement of Barentsburg. The Norwegian authorities on the islands are based in the nearby town of Longyearbyen. Norway has sovereignty over the Svalbard Archipelago in line with Paris Treaty of 1920. However, also the other signatory countries are entitled to engage in industrial activities in the area, but then only in accordance with Norwegian law.

(Sven Goll/Aftenposten English Web Desk, 16 October 2008) -- The Assistant Governor on Svalbard has barred a 28 year-old man from entering the Arctic archipelago for two years.

"The man has carried out a large number of crimes and his right to live here has been revoked for two years," says Assistant Governor Lars Fause. "We don’t have the time to watch out for people like this. It becomes a drain on Police resources," says Fause. Police have the right to refuse entry to Svalbard for ex-convicts, if the authorities think that they are likely to commit new crimes. "The person belongs to this category," says Fause.