ABSTRACT
This chapter explains mobilities in Longyearbyen on Svalbard, one of the most northern and remote inhabited locations. Longyearbyen is the hub of all Norwegian activity on Svalbard, encompassing the District Governor's Office, a university campus, a research centre, a significant tourist industry, a viable service sector and a coal mine. The chapter focuses on the fact that Longyearbyen is a place of mobilities, a place for fluctuating relations and changing identities and a place where the turnover in the population is far higher than the average in Norway. Svalbard was discovered by the Dutchman Willem Barents in 1596. The industrial history of Svalbard has five distinguishable eras that partially represent separate activities. Svalbard is located in the Arctic Ocean. It is one of the northernmost inhabited places on earth, stretching from the 74th to the 81st degree of latitude. The archipelago covers a land area of 61,229 square kilometres, with a coastline that is over 3,500 kilometres long.
