By DOUG MELLGREN
The Associated Press
ARENTSBURG, Norway (AP) -- Forget the maps. Forget the dateline of this story. This is Russia.
Thanks to a historical oddity, Barentsburg, a coal-mining village in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, is under Kremlin administration. Its 850 people speak Russian (or sometimes Ukrainian) and -- like the rest of Russia -- it is shabby and grim and oddly moving.
For tourists, it provides a taste of Russia's pleasures and pains -- without the laborious process of seeking a Russian visa.
Norwegian sovereignty
The 1920 treaty that gave Norway sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago contained the proviso that other countries would be able to conduct non-military activities there.
Barentsburg was then a Dutch coal-mining settlement.
The Soviet Union bought the town and mines in 1932 and Russians have been there ever since.
Visitors may wonder why anybody would want the place, much less pay for it.
The winters are unending black and white -- the sun doesn't come and the snow doesn't leave.
The weather can be so savage that, outside the local museum, two brightly painted iron sunflowers -- pushed askew by snow and ice -- seem to have wilted despite their solid construction.
Yet, compared to their impoverished homeland, locals call this ''The Land of Miracles.''
''We actually get paid. To get money every month really is a miracle,'' says Tamara Furenkova, a local English teacher and guide. ''We aren't afraid of crime here. We are not afraid of drugs. We feel safe.''
There aren't police because the occasional troublemaker ''just gets a little advice from the mine manager,'' Ms. Furenkova says.
Even though Barentsburg is just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the main Norwegian settlement -- sprawling, affluent Longyearbyen -- the two towns reflect their years on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain.
During the summer, the easiest way to reach Barentsburg is by boat from Longyearbyen, since no roads connect settlements on Svalbard. The harbor is a chaos of containers, scrap metal, and sacks of white chalk used in mining operations.
Overlooking the town is a huge star and Russian-language sign saying ''Peace to the World'' made of white rocks.
From the harbor, the downtown is 268 steps up a weathered and rickety wooden staircase and at the end of the climb, visitors catch their breath in a scene of post-Soviet decay. Some of the rundown cement buildings, on streets paved with slabs of concrete, are decorated with carved wood in a bid to counter their dreariness.
Soviet symbols abound
A bust of Lenin overlooks the town square. A sports hall, built just before the Moscow Olympics, bears the Olympic rings. Some buildings still have their Soviet red stars, or murals depicting the ''heroic'' workers of the now-defunct Soviet Union.
Locals says they keep the Soviet relics as a reminder of the past. Longtime resident Galina Miroshnikova, 50, says, ''It's the same atmosphere, but there are tourists now. It is much more open, and people are warmer.''
Barentsburg was off-limits during the Cold War, but now welcomes tourists, as long as they remember their place. Ms. Furenkova was speaking to a tour group when a miner interrupted, growled in Russian and walked away.
''He just wants to make sure I remember who is important here,'' she explains.
Apart from seeing Russia, there isn't much to do in Barentsburg. Guided tours often include a hearty lunch at the miner's cafe and a trip to the local museum. The only place where Barentsburg's Russians admit being in Norway is at their gift shop. The Scandinavian-style knitwear, souvenirs, and trinkets are made by Russian women in Barentsburg.
But everything's labeled ''Made in Norway.''
Islands attract polar bear watchers
Tourism brand-new in Svalbard tundra
ONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AP) -- In this Arctic outpost, keep an eye out for the tourist attractions: They're likely to be hungry.
The thousands of polar bears that prowl the Svalbard archipelago are one of the main reasons visitors venture to these frozen islands, located as far north as one can go on a regularly scheduled airline.
The huge and aggressive animals rarely come into Longyearbyen, the capital of the Svalbards, but local authorities recommend that visitors who head out of town take along high-powered rifles, which can be rented at local stores.
Not all of the Svalbards' attractions are as fierce as the polar bears, but they're generally adventurous or at least wild. Whales, walruses and seals abound, as do trekking and dog-sledding opportunities.
Even the most sedentary visitor gets a wilderness thrill by admiring the mountains that seem to burst from the sea, adorned by blinding white glaciers. In summer, the mountains glow under a sun that never sets; in winter the glaciers often reflect the eerie shimmer of the aurora borealis.
Until 1990, these dazzling vistas just 950 kilometers (600 miles) from the North Pole and 300 miles north of the Norway mainland were off-limits to visitors. Most outsiders who came to the Svalbards were on business related to the islands' coal mines.
''A representative of the Svalbards governor's office used to meet new arrivals, and if they could not prove they had a place to stay, he would turn them back,'' said Kari Angermo, head of the local tourist office.
Now, travelers are welcome, and the islands offer a few hotels and restaurants.
Cruise ships call during the summer, when wildflowers and animals rush to make use of a few mild months and the sparse vegetation that covers less than 7 percent of the islands' rocky surface.
After Dutch explorer William Barents charted the treeless islands in 1596, they were used as a base by whalers and walrus hunters. In the late 1800s, coal was discovered, and in 1906, John Longyear of Boston opened the American Mine.
A decade later, Norway bought the mine and in 1920 negotiated a treaty giving it sovereignty over the islands while allowing other countries the right to use them for non-military activity.
Russian Barentsburg
That treaty means visitors can make a trip to Russia without actually going to Russia. The settlement of Barentsburg, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Longyearbyen, is legally part of Norway but is under Russian control and home to about 850 miners and their families.
A trip to Barentsburg, which doesn't require a visa, is also a trip to a vanished country, in a way. A bust of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin still stands in the settlement, and Soviet red stars adorn some of the buildings.
''We keep them as a reminder of our history,'' said Tamera Furenkova, an English teacher in Barentsburg.
In summer, commercial boats cruise between the Norwegian and Russian towns, often stopping to watch enormous glaciers calve vast sections of ice into the cold sea. Some boats stop, fish up a small fragment of glacier and offer drinks chilled with 5,000-year-old ice cubes.
Other visitors choose to travel between the towns on two-day treks.
''It was great walking under the midnight sun,'' said Knut Madslien, a 22-year-old Norwegian, after visiting Barentsburg. ''But we didn't see any bears.''
6,000 bears, 2 deaths
Since Norway banned hunting of polar bears in 1973, the islands' bear population has increased sharply, to as many as 6,000. Although attacks are rare, two tourists have been killed by bears since 1996.
Two years ago, Norwegian tourist Thomas Olsen, 24, was trapped in a remote cabin by a polar bear. He loved it, because he got a close-up picture of the angry giant glaring at him through a window.
''It was an optimal experience,'' he said at the time.
Rifles needed
Because of the bears, everyone -- tourists included -- is urged to carry a rifle outside the settlements. Anyone can rent the weapons, for about $10 a day, with no special training.
''What worries us are tourists with rented rifles and a bellyful of cheap cognac,'' concedes Ms. Angermo. Since bears seldom venture into town, Longyearbyen (pronounced long-year-BEE-yen) asks that weapons be checked at the door when entering public buildings.
Visitors and residents alike are warned not to torment the bears. In January, two middle-aged men were fined more than $5,000 between them for chasing a bear on their snowmobiles.
The town of 1,300, which stretches about two kilometers (1.2 miles) up a long valley, is still a mining town at heart, although it's slowly coming to grips with tourism. There are now 476 guest beds in town.
Although that's far more than there used to be, the Svalbards are ''still not a good place to arrive without a place to stay,'' Ms. Angermo says.
Among the town's few restaurants, the standout is Huset -- which means simply ''the house.'' Built as an all-purpose center for miners, it now houses a bar-cafe, an upscale restaurant and the local movie house.
It also offers unusual, unscheduled entertainment: Guests are occasionally beguiled by the sight of Arctic foxes gamboling outside the restaurant's windows.
Guided tours
Although many visitors want adventurous and challenging treks, top physical condition is not a requirement. During the summer, guided tours -- on boats, horses or foot -- allow anyone to explore the tundra. Others take longer jaunts by boat or helicopter to such settlements as Norway's Ny Aalesund and the now-abandoned Russian Pyramiden. In winter, most go by snowmobile.
Cruise ships come to the islands from the Norwegian mainland and elsewhere, sometimes sending tourists ashore in rubber rafts to watch wildlife or wander glaciers.
Small museums in Longyearbyen and Barentsburg both have comprehensive exhibits about life on the islands through the centuries.
Although not outdoorsy, trips into a coal mine are their own thrill.
For a fee, visitors don overalls, miner's helmets and lamps, walk into the mountainside and -- if they dare -- crawl on their stomachs into a low, dark coal shaft.
And, for all of the wildness, the Svalbards also have a prim touch. Slippers are a must for visitors because local custom demands removal of outdoor shoes upon entering a building.
