The last piece of privately owned land in the strategic Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic is up for grabs, a property likely to entice China but which Norway does not intend to let go without a fight. The archipelago is located halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, in an Arctic region that has become a geopolitical and economic hotspot as the ice melts and relations grow ever frostier between Russia and the West. For 300 million euros ($326 million), interested parties can acquire the remote Sore Fagerfjord property in southwestern Svalbard.
Measuring 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) - about the size of Manhattan - the property is home to mountains, plains, a glacier and about five kilometers of coastline, but no infrastructure. “It’s the last private land in Svalbard, and, to our knowledge, the last private land in the world’s High Arctic,” said lawyer Per Kyllingstad, who represents the sellers. “The Chinese are naturally potential buyers since they’ve been showing a real interest in the Arctic and Svalbard for a long time,” he told AFP, adding that he had received “concrete signs of interest” from the country.
Special treaty Since China’s 2018 white paper on the Arctic - a sign of its interest in the region - the country has defined itself a “near-Arctic state” and plans to play a growing role in the region. Svalbard is governed by a 1920 international treaty that leaves ample room for foreign interests. It recognizes Norway’s.