March 24, 2024, 1:28 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Longyearbyen on Svalbard is one of the northernmost places in the world. Due to its proximity to the Arctic, it is so cold there that the ground is permanently frozen. This, in turn, has led to truly bizarre legislation…
Imagine if it were forbidden to die in your hometown. Impossible? In Longyearbyen on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, that’s exactly the case. Although forbidden isn’t quite the right word, as tourism official Ronny Bruvoll tells TRAVELBOOK: “You can, of course, die, but there is no way to be buried here.”
According to Bruvoll, there has even been an official law since 1950 stating that one must go to the Norwegian mainland to die—or be transported there after death to be buried. This is because it is so cold on Svalbard year-round that the ground is permanently frozen. “If you bury people in the permafrost, their bodies will eventually resurface,” Bruvoll tells TRAVELBOOK. “Nothing decomposes here due to the cold.”
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No country for old men
A proper burial is simply not possible—especially since Longyearbyen is not exactly an inviting place for retirement: There is neither a proper hospital nor a nursing home, and care services are nowhere to be found. “Anyone who can no longer take care of themselves must leave the island,” says Bruvoll—this is also legally stipulated.
Nevertheless, there is a small island cemetery, but according to the “BBC,” no burials have been conducted there since 1938. Among those buried are victims of the Spanish flu, which also spread in Longyearbyen in 1918. According to Bruvoll, there is a way to find eternal rest on Svalbard: “Those who choose cremation can have their ashes scattered here.”
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