Longyearbyen
Capital of Svalbard and Jan Mayen: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.
Longyearbyen colourful homes: Svalbard Global Seed Vault/Peter Vermeij, Attribution (Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Longyearbyen is the capital of Svalbard and Jan Mayen, in Svalbard. About 2,368 people live in the city proper.
It lies at 78.22° N, 15.65° E, about 1 m (3 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Arctic/Longyearbyen time zone. At this high latitude, summer days are very long and winter days very short.
Location
Red dot: Longyearbyen. Green dots: other major cities of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Map data: Natural Earth.
Climate
Longyearbyen has a tundra climate (Köppen ET). The warmest month is usually Jul, with average highs near 5°C (42°F); the coolest nights come in Mar at about -17°C (1°F). Around 684 mm (27 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.
Landmarks and places to see
Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.
What to eat in Svalbard and Jan MayenNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.← Svalbard and Jan MayenAll cities
- Population, coordinates, elevation, time zone: GeoNames 2729907 (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikidata Q25923 (CC0)
- Climate: NASA POWER 2001-2025 climatology
Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.
- Longyearbyen colourful homes: Svalbard Global Seed Vault/Peter Vermeij, Attribution (Wikimedia Commons)
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault February 2025: Michael Major for Crop Trust, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Platåberget2: Eriktj, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Longyeardalen IMG 0101 UNIS: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
