Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Svalbard and Jan Mayen is not a country but a statistical grouping (ISO 3166-1) of two remote Arctic territories under Norwegian sovereignty, administered separately rather than as a single unit. Svalbard's status is governed by the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which recognizes Norwegian sovereignty while granting signatory states equal rights to economic activity and demilitarizing the archipelago; this gives the islands an unusual international character, with a notable historic Russian/Soviet presence around the settlement of Barentsburg. Jan Mayen is an uninhabited volcanic island staffed only by Norwegian personnel. For news readers, the key fault lines are Arctic geopolitics, resource and fishing rights, climate change, and periodic friction between Norway and Russia over interpretations of the treaty.