February 20, 2018 Comments Off on Weird laws in the world’s northernmost town: no funerals allowed, and no cats please! Views: 3233 Imago, Weird Laws

The world’s northernmost capital is Nuuk, and it belongs to Greenland, while the world’s northernmost town that has more than a thousand permanent residents is Longyearbyen and it belongs to Norway. It is situated on the Svalbard Islands on the north of the Scandinavian country, and the island’s bleak scenery is contrasted only by the colorful homes and edifices of the local Longyearbyen people.

This place also has some more features counted as per the northernmost, such as the local church, museum, radio station, airport, university, etc. Even the world’s northernmost ATM is installed here.

Few peculiarities are associated with this “urban” area, such as the fact that almost for a third of the year round, there isn’t any sun around, because of the geographical position of the islands. When the sun reappears after the long and dark winter months, the local people of Longyearbyen observe the “Solfestuka” festivity. It takes place each 8th of March. Except for the absence of sun, and the harsh temperatures, the locals, face also some weird legal enforcement.

Given how cold it is in the specific region, people are not allowed to have a regular burial. Part of the problem is the permafrost which makes it nearly impossible to properly dig graves, and the frost itself will push the coffins up and out of the earth. Even if a person gets buried, it is another question how proper the body will decompose. To solve the funeral issue the local government of Svalbard reportedly requests any dead bodies to be taken to the mainland of Norway for burial, either by plane or by boat. That is an active law as of 1950.

Nevertheless, the strange assortment for burial is not the only weird law active in Longyearbyen. To preserve rare species of Arctic birds, locals are not allowed to bring cats in town as well, hence none feral friend can be spotted nearby. Locals are also encouraged to take a firearm with themselves, particularly if they move away from the settlement. That is enforcement that protects the lives of people unless someone wants to be the meal of a hungry polar bear.

For the roughly 2,000 people that live in Longyearbyen, snowmobiles are also one of the favored modes of transport. The freezing temperatures also require that all houses are built on stilts, so when the island’s layer of topsoil melts in, the structures don’t sink or slide away causing any accidents. However, nothing saved the lovely little houses as an avalanche took momentum back in 2015 and wiped out almost the entire center of the settlement.

We also thought to remind you of Whittier, Alaska – a town where almost all its citizens live under one roof

Tags: Longyearbyen, Norway, remote cities, this city knows, weird laws