Barentsburg
Barentsburg
(bä`rəntsbo͝org), town, Spitsbergen island, Svalbard, Norway. Though tourism is increasingly economically significant, Barentsburg was originally a coal-mining settlement, established (1912) by a Norwegian company. The mines have been worked by the Dutch (1921–26) and after 1932 by the Russians. It was totally destroyed (Sept., 1943) by German battleships but quickly rebuilt.Barentsburg
a mining community and port on Vest-Spitsbergen Island (Svalbard, Norway). It is picturesquely laid out on the shore of Gront Fjord, a southern branch of Isfjorden. The population is about 600. There are coal mines (concessions of the USSR) and a museum of polar lore. The town is named in honor of the Dutch navigator W. Barents.