Longyearbyen Polar Bear Warning Sign

About the Polar Bear Warning Sign

Triangular signs at the edge of Longyearbyen mark where the settlement ends and polar bear country begins, the Norwegian text beneath the bear noting that the warning applies across the whole of Svalbard. Anyone travelling beyond the town is expected to carry a firearm and a means of scaring bears off, which makes the sign both a practical instruction and the archipelago's most photographed emblem.