Why Pyramiden in Svalbard is not the World’s Northernmost Town?

When researching the fabled extremes of the Arctic by expedition ship, one name often crops up in travel blogs and history books: Pyramiden. With its eerie, frozen Soviet buildings and dramatic mountainous backdrop, it feels like the last outpost on Earth. But despite its remote appearance and notoriety, Pyramiden is not the world’s northernmost town. That title belongs to a neighbouring settlement on the same Arctic archipelago: Longyearbyen.

I recently returned from a trip to Longyearbyen and noted on a local map that Pyramiden looked further north, but the lack of network coverage prevented me from researching further online. This left me to ponder the question and jump into studying it on my return.

Both Pyramiden and Longyearbyen lie on the island of Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard archipelago, which is under Norwegian sovereignty and located well above the Arctic Circle. Longyearbyen has a Latitude of 78.22°N (approx. 817 miles from the North Pole) and Pyramiden a Latitude of 78.65°N (approx. 800 miles from the North Pole). At first glance, this might suggest that Pyramiden is farther north—and it is, by about 0.43° latitude, or roughly 47 kilometres. So why doesn’t it take the crown?

Looking at photos taken last year in Pyramiden, it looks very much like a town. However, there is a simple reason for Longyearbyen's title: Pyramiden is abandoned. Once a thriving Soviet coal mining town that was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, it was then evacuated in 1998. Today, it's a ghost town - one of the most-well preserved in the world - with just a handful of caretakers and seasonal tour guides, but no permanent residents. While its buildings remain eerily intact, complete with the world's northernmost statue of Lenin, a swimming pool, and a grand concert hall, there is no functioning civilian population, no government, and no infrastructure for permanent living. Hard to believe it was once a model Soviet town that had greenhouses, pigs, chickens, and even imported soil for agriculture.

By contrast, Longyearbyen is a living, breathing town. It has a population of around 2,000, including families, students, and workers. The town boasts schools, a university campus (UNIS), shops, restaurants, a hospital, and local governance. It is considered the northernmost permanent civilian settlement in the world.

The confusion often arises because Pyramiden looks more remote and is farther north in the Arctic. It is only reachable by snowmobile, boat, or helicopter, while Longyearbyen has an airport and roads. Its Soviet relics and dramatic location near glaciers certainly feel more like the "edge of the world."

It is indeed physically farther north, which leads many to assume it's the northernmost "town." But by the standard definition of a town, a populated area with permanent residents and municipal services, Pyramiden no longer qualifies.

While Pyramiden holds a fascinating place in Arctic history and geography, the title of the world’s northernmost town rightfully belongs to Longyearbyen. It’s a rare place where daily life persists in one of the harshest climates on Earth, complete with supermarkets, kindergartens, and even art galleries. 

So if you’re looking to visit the northernmost living town on the planet, head to Longyearbyen, and maybe your expedition ship will take an excursion to explore the frozen time capsule that is Pyramiden.