Svalbard (Russian: Шпицберген) is a group of islands located between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and the Norwegian Sea. The area is sometimes referred to as Spitsbergen, the main island with all the settlements. The islands are directly north of Norway, and have been under Norwegian rule since 1920. Svalbard’s settlements are the second most northerly permanently-inhabited spots on the planet, after the Canadian military base at Alert.