Relationship dossier
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
The UK’s treaty relationship concerns Svalbard; Svalbard and Jan Mayen are Norwegian territories without independent foreign policies.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen toward United Kingdom
Not assessedUnited Kingdom toward Svalbard and Jan Mayen
+15The United Kingdom is a party to the Svalbard Treaty, which provides nationals of treaty parties equal rights in specified economic activities in the archipelago. Svalbard and Jan Mayen do not have independent foreign policies.
Overall relationship
Not assessedHow to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Svalbard and Jan Mayen are Norwegian territories and do not conduct an independent foreign policy. The United Kingdom is a party to the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard while providing equal rights for nationals of treaty parties in specified economic activities. The treaty does not establish a separate bilateral relationship with Jan Mayen.
Key developments
The United Kingdom signed the Svalbard Treaty, which recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago and sets out equal rights for nationals of treaty parties in specified activities.
Major uncertainties
- The extent of current UK government engagement concerning the Svalbard Treaty is unclear.
- Separate UK government arrangements concerning Jan Mayen are unclear.