Bear Island, Norwegian Bjørnøya, is an islet in the Arctic Ocean, between Northern Norway and Svalbard. The island has no permanent population, except some meteorology crew.
Understand
Remnants of whaling station at Kvalrossbukta
Bear Island is named after a polar bear and is the southernmost island in Svalbard. Along with the adjacent waters, it was declared a nature reserve in 2002.
Get in
There are very few opportunities for individual travel to Bjørnøya. A few yachts make landfall, usually en route between the Norwegian mainland and Spitsbergen. A small number of cruising ships have visited the island, but tourism is otherwise almost nonexistent.
Get around
See
Stappen bird cliff
Do
Urd, at 536 m the highest point of the island, is in Miseryfjellet, the mountainous eastern part of Bear Island.