The Svalvard Treaty

The treaty concerning Spitsbergen, often reffered to as the Svalvard Treaty, of 9 february 1920, recognizes the full and absolute sovereignty  of Norway over the artic archipelago of Spitsbergen (now called Svalbard).

The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies.The treaty only partly demilitarizes Svalbard.

All signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities(mainly coal mining) on the islands. As of 2007, Norway and Russia are utilizing this right.

There were fourteen original high contracting parties, including: U.S.,Denmark,France,Italy, Japan, Netherland,Norway, Swedenand united kingdom of great Britain and Ireland and British overseas dominions of Canada, Australia,India,South Africa and Newzealand.