What should you know about Svalbard? (2020) | Hacker News Reader

What should you know about Svalbard? (2020)

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10 pointsredbell10 comments

> Svalbard located on far north, welcomes anyone in the world with open arms, what makes it unique is there is no visas required and has open borders. Svalbard is a part of Norway, prior to 1925 known as Spitsbergen.

Wow! This seems to be “too good to be true”, what’s the catch, if any?

There are some youtube videos that cover the pros and cons. Norway citizens have additional medical benefits there. They have some odd rules like you can't actually own any land there. You may not die there, meaning there have to be arrangements to move your body elsewhere. There are a lot of bears. It is a nice place though, I could see living there if the internet latency wasn't too bad.

There are fiber cables to the mainland:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Undersea_Cable_Syst...

Interestingly from that Wikipedia article:

  The Svalbard undersea cable system connecting the archipelago to the mainland was unexpectedly severed in January of 2022. A preliminary police investigation implicates human activity.

Bear attacks are extremely rare but the locals take precautions anyway. Pretty much everyone has a shotgun and very few doors are locked.

My wife would move us there if housing wasn't an issue, so I've had this conversation.

pitch black or fully bright 24 hours a day for 4 months

This seems pretty rough.

Found a job locally? Where are you going to live? From wikipedia:

> Almost all housing is owned by the various employers and institutions and rented to their employees; there are only a few privately owned houses, most of which are recreational cabins. Because of this, it is difficult to live on Svalbard without working for an established institution.

- You need to get there somehow. It is far. Half way between main continent and North Pole. Usual way is going through Norway so in that case you need to be able to get in the Norway anyway.

- You need to have support (like job) or be able to support yourself. As relatively recent example when it does not work out: https://icepeople.net/2021/07/24/our-editor-get-expelled-her...

I was touched by this story - maybe as a Norwegian (in exile) I'm biased, but there is a charming streak among some public servants to be decent, even to people down and out on their luck. Would the same courtesy be extended to people without education and mastery of the pen? perhaps not, but I like to think so.

watch out for the armored bears

https://hisdarkmaterials.fandom.com/wiki/Panserbj%C3%B8rn

I had the same thought. It's where I first heard of Svalbard and is always the first thing I think about when I hear about Svalbard. I have to keep reminding myself it's a real place.

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