Svalbard Treaty
The Svalbard Treaty recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. The treaty regulates the demilitarisation of the archipelago. The signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities on the islands., Norway and Russia are making use of this right.
Uniquely, the archipelago is an entirely visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty.
The treaty was signed on 9 February 1920 and submitted for registration in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 21 October 1920. There were 14 original High Contracting Parties: Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of the original signatories, Japan was the last to ratify the treaty on 2 April 1925, and the treaty came into force on 14 August 1925.
Many additional nations acceded to the treaty after it was ratified by the original signatories, including several before it came into force., there are 46 parties to the treaty.
Name of the 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. 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.History
The archipelago was discovered by the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz in 1596. It was named Spitsbergen, meaning "sharp-peaked mountains". It was uninhabited. The islands were renamed in the 1920s by Norway as Svalbard.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. 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.
Contents
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 and other principles relating to Svalbard. This includes:- 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.
Disputes regarding natural resources
200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone around Svalbard
There has been a long-running dispute, primarily between Norway and Russia over fishing rights in the region. In 1977, Norway established a regulated fishery in a zone around Svalbard. Norway argues that the treaty's provisions of equal economic access apply only to the islands and their territorial waters but not to the wider exclusive economic zone. In addition, it argues that the continental shelf is a part of mainland Norway's continental shelf and should be governed by the 1958 Continental Shelf Convention. The Soviet Union/Russia disputed and continues to dispute this position and consider the Spitsbergen Treaty to apply to the entire zone. Talks were held in 1978 in Moscow but did not resolve the issue. Finland and Canada support Norway's position, while most of the other treaty signatories have expressed no official position. The relevant parts of the treaty are as follows:
Ships and nationals of all the High Contracting Parties shall enjoy equally the rights of fishing and hunting in the territories specified in Article 1 and in their territorial waters.
They shall be admitted under the same conditions of equality to the exercise and practice of all maritime, industrial, mining or commercial enterprises both on land and in the territorial waters, and no monopoly shall be established on any account or for any enterprise whatever.
Natural resources outside the 200-nautical-mile (370 km) zone
"Mainly the dispute is about whether the Svalbard Treaty also is in effect outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea," according to Norway's largest newspaper, Aftenposten. If the treaty comes into effect outside the zone, then Norway will not be able to claim the full 78% of profits of oil- and gas harvesting, said Aftenposten in 2011.Parties
A list of parties is shown below; the dates below reflect when a nation deposited its instrument of ratification or accession. Some parties are successor states to the countries that joined the treaty, as noted below.| Country | Date of ratification | Notes |
| Afghanistan | ||
| Albania | ||
| Argentina | ||
| Australia | Extension by the United Kingdom. | |
| Austria | ||
| Belgium | ||
| Bulgaria | ||
| Canada | Extension by the United Kingdom. | |
| Chile | ||
| China | Acceded as the Republic of China. Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China claim to be the successor or continuing state, but as of 2018 all other parties to the treaty recognize only the People's Republic of China. | |
| Czech Republic | Czechoslovakia acceded to the treaty on. On, the Czech Republic informed that it considered itself bound to the treaty since its independence on, as a successor state. | |
| Denmark | Extension to the entire Danish Realm. | |
| Dominican Republic | ||
| Egypt | ||
| Estonia | ||
| Finland | ||
| France | ||
| Germany | Acceded as the Weimar Republic. On, East Germany informed that it also reapplied the treaty since. East Germany reunited with West Germany in 1990. | |
| Greece | ||
| Hungary | ||
| Iceland | ||
| India | Extension by the United Kingdom. | |
| Ireland | Ireland was part of the United Kingdom when the latter signed the treaty, but most of Ireland left the United Kingdom and formed the Irish Free State before the treaty was ratified. On, Ireland informed that it also applied the treaty since its ratification by the United Kingdom. | |
| Italy | ||
| Japan | ||
| Latvia | ||
| Lithuania | ||
| Monaco | ||
| Netherlands | Extension to the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands. | |
| New Zealand | Extension by the United Kingdom. | |
| North Korea | ||
| Norway | ||
| Poland | ||
| Portugal | ||
| Romania | ||
| Russia | Acceded as the Soviet Union. On, Russia declared that it continued to apply the treaties concluded by the Soviet Union. | |
| Saudi Arabia | Acceded as the Kingdom of Hejaz. | |
| Slovakia | Czechoslovakia acceded to the treaty on. On, Slovakia informed that it considered itself bound to the treaty since its independence on, as a successor state. | |
| South Africa | Extension by the United Kingdom. | |
| South Korea | ||
| Spain | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Switzerland | ||
| United Kingdom | Extension to Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Ireland also applied the treaty since its ratification by the United Kingdom. | |
| United States | ||
| Venezuela |
Yugoslavia also acceded to the treaty on, but, as of 2018, none of its successor states have declared to continue application of the treaty.