Sveagruva

Sveagruva was a mining settlement in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard lying at the head of Van Mijenfjord.It was the third-largest settlement in the territory (after Longyearbyen and Barentsburg), with a population of about 300. Now around 310 workers live in Longyearbyen, and travel to Sveagruva for work on either daily or weekly basis. There are no permanent inhabitants living Sveagruva. The settlement is operated by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani and is served by the airport Svea Airport. The town was first established in 1917 by the Swedes [cite_web|url=http://www.snsk.no/internet/en/historie/sveagruva.htm|title= History of Sveagruva] . The town was destroyed in 1944, but was quickly re-established after World War II. In the 1990's the town nearly vanished, due to more productive, and accessible mines in Longyearbyen.

Today, Sveagruva holds the most productive coal mine of Svalbard, the Svea Nord longwall mine. Opened in 2001, the mine produces 4 million metric tons of coal annually [cite_web|url=http://www.geoportalen.no/svalbard/produksjonsrekord/|title= Ny produksjonsrekord] , making it one of the largest underground coal mines in Europe.

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