In one of the world's northernmost towns, there's said to be one of the oddest laws on Earth. Ask around online and you'll hear that dying there is against the law. It sounds like a tall tale, and that's because it mostly is.
The town is Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Norway's Svalbard islands, and it is not actually illegal to die there. The popular claim is misleading. What is true is that bodies can't be buried there, and residents who are terminally ill are typically required to move to the mainland.
A Town Near the Top of the World
Longyearbyen is home to an estimated 2,400 to 2,800 people. It began as a coal-mining town, founded by and named after an American, John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started mining there in 1906. Until 1926, it was called Longyear City.
Life there runs on extremes. The town gets midnight sun from April to August and polar night from late October to mid-February. Because mountains block the low sun, most of the town doesn't see sunlight again until around March 8, which locals celebrate with a Sun Festival Week.
The Graves That Wouldn't Decay
In 1918, eleven people in the town were killed by the Spanish flu, and a graveyard was set up. The burial ground stayed in use until 1950, by which time 44 people had been buried there.
Then came an unsettling discovery. The bodies weren't decomposing, because the ground is permafrost, which stays frozen. That included the bodies of residents who had died in the 1918 flu pandemic. That year, burials were stopped, and bodies have been sent to the mainland ever since.
The bigger worry is what the frozen ground might be preserving. Scientists are concerned that these corpses may still harbor live strains of the virus behind that pandemic, which killed between 1 and 6 percent of the world's population.
So What Happens Now?
Today there are no options for burying bodies in Longyearbyen. Ashes can be buried, but only with permission from the government. People who are terminally ill are typically required to move to the Norwegian mainland.
That fits with how the town works in general. It has a small hospital that operates as a clinic, but no care or nursing services. In other words, it isn't set up for long-term care.
Other Rules You Won't Find Back Home
Because it's so remote, Longyearbyen has laws found in few, if any, other places. Importing most live mammals and birds is prohibited, and there's a limit on how much alcohol a person can buy each month.
Then there are the polar bears. Anyone venturing outside town is advised to carry a rifle for protection. It's also customary for residents to leave their houses and cars unlocked, with the key in the ignition, so anyone can use them to escape a bear.
Longyearbyen isn't alone in its odd relationship with death, either. The Greek island of Delos banned dying on religious grounds back in the 5th century BC. In modern times, a few towns in France and Spain have outlawed death as a tongue-in-cheek protest when officials wouldn't approve room for new or bigger cemeteries.
So, legally speaking, you're free to die in Longyearbyen. You just won't be staying. In a town where the ground stays frozen and polar bears roam nearby, even your final resting place comes with a one-way trip south.
