Svalbard Treaty

The original treaty is entitled the Treaty recognising the sovereignty of Norway over the Archipelago of Spitsbergen. It refers to the entire archipelago as Spitsbergen, which had been the only name in common usage since 1596 (with minor variations in spelling). In 1925, five years after the conclusion of the treaty, the Norwegian authorities proceeded to officially rename the islands "Svalbard". This new name was a modern adaptation of the ancient toponym Svalbarði, attested in the Norse sagas as early as 1194. The exonym Spitsbergen subsequently came to be applied to the main island in the archipelago. Accordingly, in modern historiography the Treaty of Spitsbergen is commonly referred to anachronistically as the Svalbard Treaty to reflect the name change.[7][8]

The archipelago was discovered by the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz in 1596.[9] It was named Spitsbergen, meaning "sharp-peaked mountains" (literally "spit-bergs"). It was uninhabited.[10] The islands were renamed in the 1920s by Norway as Svalbard.[11]

Spitsbergen/Svalbard began as a territory free of a nation, with people from different countries participating in industries including fishing, whaling, mining, research and later, tourism. Not belonging to any nation left Svalbard largely free of regulations or laws, though there were conflicts over the area due to whaling rights and sovereignty disputes between England, the Netherlands and Denmark–Norway in the first half of the 17th century.[12] By the 20th century mineral deposits were found on the main island and continual conflicts between miners and owners created a need for a government.[13]

The Spitsbergen Treaty was signed in Paris on 9 February 1920, during the Versailles negotiations after World War I. In this treaty, international diplomacy recognized Norwegian sovereignty (the Norwegian administration went in effect by 1925) and other principles relating to Svalbard. This includes:[5]

• Svalbard is part of Norway: Svalbard is completely controlled by and forms part of the Kingdom of Norway. However, Norway's power over Svalbard is restricted by the limitations listed below:
• Taxation: This allows taxes to be collected, but only enough to support Svalbard and the Svalbard government. This results in lower taxes than mainland Norway and the exclusion of any taxes on Svalbard supporting Norway directly. Also, Svalbard's revenues and expenses are separately budgeted from mainland Norway.
• Environmental conservation: Norway must respect and preserve the Svalbard environment.
• Non-discrimination: All citizens and all companies of every nation under the treaty are allowed to become residents and to have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining or trade activity. The residents of Svalbard must follow Norwegian law, though Norwegian authority cannot discriminate against or favor any residents of any given nationality.
• Military restrictions: Article 9 prohibits naval bases and fortifications and also the use of Svalbard for war-like purposes. It is not, however, entirely demilitarized.

A list of parties is shown below; the dates below reflect when a nation deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.[1][18] Some parties are successor states to the countries that joined the treaty, as noted below.

Yugoslavia also acceded to the treaty on 6 July 1925, but, as of 2018, none of its successor states have declared to continue application of the treaty.

• List of treaties
• Antarctic Treaty System

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Spitsbergen Treaty

• Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen signed in Paris 9th February 1920.
• Treaty Concerning the Archipelago of Spitsbergen
• Svalbard Treaty and Ratification (in Norwegian)
• Svalbard – an important arena – Speech by Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 15 April 2006.