Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon buttons up to visit ‘new’ part of Norway that’s a social media sensation

Although many of us are still in the heat of summer right now with sunny skies and high temperatures, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway buttoned up his coat for an important anniversary this week. 

Crown Prince Haakon was in Longyearbyen on Svalbard to celebrate a major milestone. 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Svalbard joining the Kingdom of Norway. In 1920, following the First World War, the Svalbard Treaty was first signed but it did not go into effect until 1925. The treaty granted sovereignty to Norway. 

Originally known as Spitsbergen, the island was renamed Svalbard in 1925 when the Norwegian flag was first lifted. 

The Crown Prince of Norway visited Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard and one of the world’s most northern inhabited places. 

Haakon gave a speech where he marked the exact moment of the centennial anniversary. 

He was also joined by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Minister of Justice and Public Security Astri Aas-Hansen. 

This was not Crown Prince Haakon’s first visit to Svalbard. In 2022, he and Crown Princess Mette Marit visited the archipelago. 

Longyearbyen has recently become very popular on social media. The town of less than 2,000 people experiences two very rare phenomena. Midnight sun occurs from 18 April and 24 August, where the sun is still visible at midnight, and polar night occurs from 27 October to 15 February, where the sun does not move above the horizon for over 24 hours.