Spitsbergen

American

[spits-bur-guhn] / ˈspɪtsˌbɜr gən /

Or Spitzbergen

noun

a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, N of and belonging to Norway. 24,293 sq. mi. (62,920 sq. km).

Spitsbergen British

/ ˈspɪtsˌbɜːɡən /

noun

another name for Svalbard

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The fossil evidence from Spitsbergen now challenges that assumption.

From Science Daily • Dec. 30, 2025

"This picture was taken in Spitsbergen during a very cold winter. The white grouse is coming towards me and looks like a snowball with eyes."

From BBC • Oct. 4, 2023

Fossils dating to about 250 million years ago unearthed in a harsh and remote locale - Norway's Arctic island of Spitsbergen - are now providing surprising insight into the rise of ichthyosaurs.

From Reuters • Mar. 14, 2023

Our closest encounter was in Spitsbergen, Norway and we had been told that there would be a polar bear behind every rock.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2021

This land-connection is supposed to have lain far north between Scandinavia, Spitsbergen, and Greenland, and must have persisted until towards the end of the Glacial period.

From The History of the European Fauna by Scharff, Robert Francis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023