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The Svalbard Treaty, which was signed in Paris on 9 February 1920, granted Norway full and absolute sovereignty over Svalbard. The Treaty of Svalbard became effective on 14 August 1925, and according to the Act of 17 July 1925, Svalbard is part of the Kingdom of Norway. At the same time, the Treaty also gives other countries extensive rights. Citizens from signatory countries to the Treaty have the same rights as Norwegian citizens to engage in industry, mining, fishing, hunting and other maritime and commercial activities. The Treaty stipulates that the taxes that are collected in Svalbard are to be used in the archipelago. Military activities are not permitted. As much as 60% of the land area is covered with ice, and less than 10% has vegetation. Svalbard is surround by a shallow shelf sea. The average depth in the Barents Sea is 230 metres, and the shallowest areas are between Bjørnøya and Edgeøya. West and north of Svalbard, the depths of the Norwegian Sea and the Arctic Ocean plunge down more than 2000 metres. Settlements are found several places on Spitsbergen and near the Arctic Ocean stations on Bjørnøya and Hopen.  | Ny-Ålesund on Spitsbergen
Frequent low-pressure passages and the warm Atlantic Ocean water make the climate on Svalbard milder than in other areas at the same latitude. The annual average temperature in Longyearbyen is -4º C, but the climatic differences in the archipelago are greater. The highest measured temperature in Svalbard is 21.3° C, and the lowest is -46.3° C. Stiff breezes are common in the winter half-year, while fog is a typical summer phenomenon. There is little rainfall; in Longyearbyen there is less than in the driest areas on the mainland. Longyearbyen has the Midnight Sun from 20 April until 23 August, and the Polar Night from 26 October until 15 February.
The fjords and sea areas north and east of Svalbard are covered with ice for 8-9 months of the year, while the fjords on the west side of Spitsbergen can be ice-free for large parts of the winter. The majority of rainfall on Svalbard comes with polar eastern winds from the Barents Sea, and there is three times as much rainfall on the south coast of Spitsbergen as in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund. Svalbard has a permafrost layer that goes down to 450 metres. During the summer, only the upper layer of the soil defrosts, down to a maximum of one metre.
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