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Norway NorwaySvalbardIsland

Barentsøya

1,276 km² of land in the Barents Sea.

When to go

Barentsøya seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
N 5 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

1,276km²

Area

200km

Coastline

405m

Highest point

Schweinfurthberget

0

People

2°C

Warmest sea

August

790km

To the mainland

When to go to Barentsøya

Good all year round.

The sea is warmest in August (2 °C) and coolest in February (-1 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway

Barentsøya is an island in Norway. It belongs to Svalbard. It covers 1,276 km², with 200 km of coastline. Its highest point, Schweinfurthberget, rises to 405 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 790 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • 790 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at HFT airport (Hammerfest)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Barentsøya in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Barentsøya, each with its own numbers.

  • 1beachCoastya
  • 24mountainsPeakyas

  • Highest point

    630m

    Peer Gyntslottet

    according to Peakyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    2.3°C

    Spjutneshamna

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

1 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Spjutneshamnacove2.3°C

Open Coastya ↗

24 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

  1. Peer Gyntslottet630m
  2. Grimheia
  3. Krefftberget
  4. Schweinfurthberget
  5. Svartnosheia
  6. Farken
  7. Rohlfsberget
  8. Haastberget

16 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 236 m above the sea. 44 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 15 %0–50 m
  • 29 %50–200 m
  • 51 %200–500 m
  • 5 %500–1,000 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Barentsøya1,276 km²
Tenerife2,038 km²
Long Island3,529 km²

50 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)-10-11-13-9-31330-3-6-8
Night low (°C)-14-15-17-14-6-111-1-6-9-12
Sea (°C)-1-1-1-1-1012100-1
Rain (mm)474449343830444859636160
Wet days13111299791113151415
Sun h/day—1.35.810.812.110.17.54.62.60.8——
Wind (km/h)232322191714121418212324

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020−0.8−0.7−0.8−0.8−0.8−1.0−1.7+0.8+0.4−0.1+0.1−0.7
2021−0.7−0.7−0.8−0.8−0.7−0.5+0.1+0.6+0.3−0.7−0.6−1.0
2022−0.8−0.7−0.8−0.8−0.8−1.0+2.5+1.5+1.1+1.0+0.6+0.1
2023−0.7−0.7−0.8−0.8−0.8−0.5+2.6+2.3+1.7+0.5−0.5−0.9
2024−0.8−0.7−0.8−0.8−0.9−1.2+0.3+2.8+2.1+1.3+1.1−0.5
2025−0.8−0.7−0.7−0.7−0.5±0.0+2.1+1.9+1.6+1.9+1.5+0.2

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Barents island franken hut 2
Hermanhi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Barents island franken hut 1
Hermanhi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Barents Island from the East
Kognos · CC BY 4.0
Sundneset.Barentsoya
China Crisis · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

EdgeøyaNorwayNorway5,073 km²590 m87 km awaySpitsbergenNorwayNorway39,044 km²1,713 m125 km awayWilhelmøyaNorwayNorway118 km²558 m75 km awaySvenskøyaNorwayNorway138 km²280 m119 km awayNordaustlandetNorwayNorway14,467 km²764 m155 km awayKong Karls LandNorwayNorway361 km²316 m166 km awayKongsøyaNorwayNorway200 km²320 m166 km awayHopenNorwayNorway45 km²371 m225 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q373190) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit