Svalbard. Icy earth located half-way from continental Europe to the North Pole. This world, lost in the vast expanses of the Arctic, must be a serene kingdom of cold, snow and ice. But no, contrary to all premonitions and common sense, Spitsbergen is a relics corner of wildlife, which cannot be found all over the world.
Also known as Svalbard and Grumant, the Spitsbergen archipelago consists of 3 large, 7 smaller and a whole placer of very tiny islands and rocky sherries. The total area of the archipelago - 61 000 km 2 - is quite a lot, for comparison, countries such as Lithuania and Latvia have only a little larger area. However, more than half of the territory is occupied by centuries-old glaciers and sharp mountain peaks, in a word, landscapes of little use for any kind of economic activity ... but they are of nature to their liking.
But the wildlife, those numerous representatives of the flora and fauna with which the archipelago is rich, could not be here at all, if it were not for the warm Gulf Stream, on the path of which Svalbard is located. Only thanks to the Gulf Stream, these islands turned into a real oasis, albeit a relative, but warmth. At similar latitudes and still far beyond their borders, the temperature is on average 20-30C lower - the Arctic as in any way.
The summer temperature here keeps around the mark of + 5C, only occasionally rising to 10-15 degrees, but this is enough so that the coasts and all not numerous plains are covered with a bright green carpet. The latter consists mainly of mosses and lichens, most of which are endemics - they are not found anywhere else. Several species of cold-resistant grasses grow on Svalbard, even flowering plants are not very rare, among which scarlet Svalbard poppies occupy a special place. All in all, more than 250 (a considerable part of them are endemic) from the plant world are found on the islands - an incredible amount for the earth, located a couple of hundred kilometers from the North Pole.
The nature of Svalbard is primordial - its entire unique ecosystem is in delicate balance. To break it would be the greatest crime, and the Norwegians are well aware of this. In 6 nature protection zones, which occupy more than half of the area of the entire archipelago, everything is strictly forbidden except ecological tourism and contemplation.