Page 2 Content Go to page 3 Foreword Svalbard is a group of islands that lie up in the northern Arctic Ocean north of Norway. The largest island is called Spitsbergen, and on this island is the capital, called Longyearbyen. From here the islands are administered. Svalbard is part of Norway, and is administered as a Norwegian county. I visited Svalbard in the summer of 2012, and I met and photographed many birds and animals. I wanted to raise awareness of these creatures and their way of life, and I asked them to send me a letter in which they tell me about their lives. In the following I have collected all these letters I have received, and I illustrate them with the pictures I took at Svalbard When you land at the airport in Longyearbyen and step out from the arrival hall the first thing you encounter is a warning sign for polar bears. You will hardly see them within the city boundary, but you are warned that you should not walk alone outside the city limits. Many of the locals are armed when they go to town, or when they move away from inhabited areas. It gives some problems in everyday life. The shopkeepers in the city do not want armed people to enter the stores. I saw several signs that ask people to deposit their weapons before entering the shop.