a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, lying between N. Lat. 76.30. and 80.40., E. Long. 9. and 22., separated from the coast of Greenland on the west by the Greenland Sea, and from Nova Zembla on the east by the Sea of Spitzbergen. There are four large, and a great number of smaller islands. Spitzbergen proper, the largest of the group, is of a very irregular shape. It consists of two parts, West Spitzbergen and New Fresland, or East Spitzbergen, which are connected only by a narrow isthmus. South of the latter of these parts lies Edges Island, separated from the other by Tymens Fiord, a strait about 50 miles long and 10 broad. To the east of New Fresland, and separated from it by Henloopen or Waygatz Strait, is North-East Land; and about 12 miles to the west of Spitzbergen proper lies the long and narrow Charles' Island. A long narrow inlet, called Weide Jans Water, extends into the very heart of the group, separating West Spitzbergen, first from Edges Island, and then from East Spitzbergen, and washing, at its northern extremity, the isthmus that joins the two parts of the main island. The other side of this isthmus is formed by Weide Bay, an inlet running in from the N.E. The other islands of the group are very insignificant; most of them skirt the shores of the larger ones at a short distance. The Thousand Isles to the south of Edges Island, and the Seven Islands to the north of North-East Land, are the principal groups. The entire area of the islands is estimated at 29,460 square miles. The west coast of the largest island is irregular, being penetrated by many small bays and creeks; and it is skirted by lofty mountains, which in some places come quite down to the edge of the sea. The mountains rise to the height of 3000 or 4000 feet; and the valleys between them are either covered with snow, or else, where they are narrow, entirely occupied with glaciers, which in many places reach down to the sea, and form a perpendicular wall of ice several hundred feet in height. South Cape, or Point Lookout, the most southerly headland in Spitzbergen, is a low promontory; but immediately behind it the mountain-chain begins to rise. The greater part of Charles Island is occupied with steep mountains, some of whose peaks attain the height of 4500 feet. The northern shores of the group are not so lofty and rugged as the western. In some places the ground is comparatively level, and not totally destitute of vegetation. The eastern coast of North-East Land is lined almost throughout with glaciers. Of the interior of the islands very little is known. The climate is intensely cold; the mean temperature of the three warmest months on the west coast is not three degrees above the freezing point. For four months the sun never rises above the horizon; and were it not for the brilliancy of the aurora borealis, and the light of the moon when full, the land would be enveloped in total darkness. The vegetation of the islands is very scanty and stunted, as there are not more than forty species of plants found here; but the most of them are very rapid in their growth, springing up, flowering, and bearing seed all within a month or six weeks. The country does not afford sustenance for a single human being; and yet, not only is Spitzbergen frequently visited by whalers, but there have been at several times colonies residing for a length of time on the islands, and one Russian gentleman spent there fifteen years without once leaving the country. Reindeer, polar foxes, and polar bears, are the animals found in Spitzbergen. Whales, walruses, seals, &c., abound in the surrounding sea; and there are large numbers of sea-fowl of different kinds. Spitzbergen was discovered by Barentz, a Dutch navigator, in 1596; though the English afterwards asserted it to have been the land seen by Sir Hugh Willoughby in his unfortunate expedition in 1553. The latter, however, was probably not Spitzbergen, but part of Nova Zembla. The country derived its name from the sharp peaks of its mountains. In the seventeenth century the settlement of Smeerenburg, on the north coast of Spitzbergen, was founded by the Dutch; and this was for a long time a flourishing whaling station. At a later period, Russian adventurers were in the habit of spending a part of the year in hunting and fishing here.