What's the Northernmost Town in the world? 

I don't want to be the "well actually guy", and rarely bother correcting people on the internet. However, as a resident, I have to point out that Ny-Ålesund is exclusively for research, and access is heavily restricted even for us living in Svalbard. We can however submit an application to visit. The trip over from Longyearbyen is demanding by snowmobile, or extremely expensive by research ship (even by norwegian standards). I can't speak for the russian settlements, but as far I know, Longyearbyen is then the northernmost PUBLIC town you can move to :D That being said, if you ever find yourself in Svalbard and in need of consumer electronics you'll have no choice than to come see me :D (there is only one store on the island)

Do most eastern town next. Always wanted to see what the Eastpole looks like

"Instead of just telling you, I'm going to beat around the bush for 4 minutes so I can turn this into a video" LOL

I live in Norway and I really enjoyed him mispronouncing all of the norwegian names

Haha I like the comedic approach on this channel

1:05 Actually, there is a good reasons for Murmansk; it has a year-long, ice-free harbour thanks to the gulf stream. For the harbour and the naval base, you need a city.

I'm Russian and I absolutely loved that remark about our logic & Мурманск (Murmansk). Keep up the good work man! :) P.S.: flawless ad integration in the end

"Now instead of telling you, I'm going to beat around the bush for four minutes so I can make this into a video." Nice to see some self-awareness.

Murmansk is not far away from Tromso so it enjoys similar weather, a bit colder during winter, a bit warmer during summer. Unlike other Russian Arctic ports, it's a warm-water seaport. It only makes sense to build a city in a place like this.

“You can start your day in Longyearbyen and then end it in Newark, New Jersey. ...Not that you want to”😂 I died

still not as cold as my ex's heart

If you ask Canadians, like me, what the northernmost town is, I reckon some of them will say Alert.

Half as interesting Half as surprising

hahaha “because logic and sensibility doesn’t exist in Russia” keep this up

Murmansk is Russia's biggest port that never freezes and allow navigation in winter. St Petersburg doesn't allow that, for comparison. Just a little remark, you know, for a channel who's main theme is transport and logistics.

For anyone curious, Longyearbyen (which is just next to Ny-Ålesund) has a population of over 2,000 people! I visited there in January/February when the sun never rises and made a short video of it on my channel. I also talk a bit more about its legacy on my website (if you care)! Super dope place though and I highly recommend visiting someday via cheap flights from Oslo!

This channel should be renamed "Twice as Interesting" instead of "Half as Interesting"

Wendover, your less serious style in these videos is hilarious and fun to watch. Keep them up! Loving this channel

This was one of my favorite videos by you. Keep up the good (and witty) work.

I really like this channel! Gives really interesting information in bite-sized chunks that aren't drawn out and 15 minutes long!

"Logic and sensibility doesn't exist in Russia" might be the best way to explain that country as a whole.

I’ve actually been to that town. I’ve also been to the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America.

...Edinburgh? It's not even the most northern town in SCOTLAND.

"If you ask an American, the most northern town in the world? Is probably Toronto." Me sitting 4 latitudes north of Toronto in the United States: "excuse me?"

*Greetings* from *_Philippines._* I watch each of your videos. I like how you made it easier for the viewer to understand. I love your other channel too.

You can't just go to Ny-Alesund. It can be visited for a few hours by cruise ship, but to actually stay there you need to be invited, or ask for permission with a valid reason. I do highly recomend it if you ever get the chance though.

Im back to this video for one reason and one reason only. To thank Sam for giving me the idea of going to Tromso over New year this year. Not seeing the sun for a week and having a unique experience I will not have again in some time, will be awesome!

I grew up on Svaldbard, I miss the place, nothing can really describe how nice it is up there, the night sky with the auroras are so intense and beautiful

While zooming in on Tromsø: "I can see my house from here!"

Whenever I see any compound in any icy/snowy environment I can't but think of "The Thing"

Finally, Norway gained some attention❤️🇳🇴🇳🇴

During my undergrad, Environment Canada advertised 4 month co-op positions to Alert. I was interviewed for it and they would warn you how isolated it was and talked about being night or day for months at a time. I wasn't offered the job but don't know if I would've taken it anyways.

2:50 You forgot protected.

In Norway we differentiate between towns and villages. To become a town you have to have a certain amount of inhabitants. However a lot of towns does not really fulfill the criteria, but can still call themselves a town because they applied for “town-status” when the criteria were lower. This is the background of a decade-long discussion in Norway about who is the northernmost town. None of the settlements on Svalbard counts as they are villages. The two northernmost towns in Norway are: Hammerfest and Honningsvåg. Honningsvåg is definitely further up north but Hammerfest doesn’t recognize Honningsvåg as a town because they don’t fit the new town-criteria, even though Honningsvåg technically is one. Therefore Hammerfest (wrongly) claims the title “The northernmost town in the world”. Honningsvåg has about 3000 citizens and is the town by the North Cape (northernmost point in mainland Europe).

Dear Half As Interesting If you put a magnet in the middle of the Earth, which direction would it go?

Just started watching videos on this channel and OMG it's sooo much fun. These are much more like early Wendover Productions videos where he's much more casual and witty with jokes.

The amount of sponsorships you get is twice is interesting (i dont hate wendover or his sponsorships lol)

”... and end your day in Newark, New Jersey. Not that you'd want to.” Hahahahaha perfect!

You didn't answer the most important question. Does amazon offer free two day prime delivery??

Thank you for using polar projection for at least some of these maps. After watching your other video on Svalbard, I had no clue what it was actually shaped like.

that smooth ass transfer at the end though 😂😂

"Stupid RU-vidrs" :D:D:D:D:D

Fascinating video. Thank you for all of your hard work in making it!

I wish you wouldnt use mercator projection in a video thats about "north"

Alway suprising to see how much your channels have come, changend and improved in just over three years

its been a longyearben

The humour is great, and that segway into the ad was flawless

Also just fyi, Barrow has since been renamed Utqiagvik :) great video, all the same!

This is literally the only channel I watch that has advertising in the video and it doesn't feel out of place or tacky

Ask a brit and its Edinburgh Scotland?? I have to drive 2 hours SOUTH to get to Edinburgh haha

The transition to that ad was flawless.

“If you’re an Englishman, it’s Edinburgh Scotland. If you’re a Scot it’s Inverness”

It's interesting that the Lowest Temperature in Tromso is not as low as in Dallas, Texas. However, I do like the sun shine in Dallas.

"Since logic and sensibility don't exist in Russia" hits different now in February 2022

3:59 Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. There, that's saved you a few minutes!

0:45 can literally see my own house in that picture

Eureka Nunavut Canada has a post office and is is situated at 80 degrees North. It may take weeks to get your mail delivered but it is a functioning post office. I believe this would be most northerly post office.

I love how this channel is kind of like his shitposting channel in terms of how his commentary and jokes are, but still interesting... Or at least half that.

Been watching your Wendover Productions stuff for a while, but I never knew you could be so funny! This channels great, keep up the good work.

2:46 I live in Newark too 😭😭😭

Great Video, I love how your videos are getting sassier :)

I'm Inuit and it pained me when you pronounced the greenlandic thing LMAO it's not even Greenlandic to say Thule

Lol, I like how you went right back into the story blocks advertisement. Funny stuff man!!........ Great video though!!

I'm sorry, but if someone in Britain was asked what the northernmost town was, they'd say John O' Groats.

Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada is an arctic city larger than Barrow with a population of 8000.

No random Soviet theme?

Sam: making a mere 5 minutes video about Svalbard Also Sam: making a 3 hours podcast about Svalbard

Tromso's warmer than Barrow because of the Gulfstream? i know planes are bad for the enviroment, but seriously, a private jet makes a city hotter?

Could have included the northernmost naturally inhabited place, which is a small village Siorapaluk (just north of Qaanaaq) in north Greenland. Unlike in Svalbard, the greenlanders have been living there for thousands of years. It was only until 1818 the people in Qaanaaq first met an outsider and until then they thought they were the only people in the world. The former northernmost naturally inhabited village was Etah, but is a ghost village as of now. The people moved a little bit south to Qaanaaq as its a bigger place. Etah was slightly more north than Longyearbyen.

Omggg I want to buy a house in Svalbard, imagine the christmasses!

At 0:53, being from Wisconsin, what caught my attention is that being that far north it still almost never gets below 0F. The moderating effect of the ocean.

Yay Norway

That stock clip of the people being happy at the end was fucking hilarious because of the narration

Where's the ice wall?

Toronto :) Your sense of humor is getting better every video.

I hope people get the newerk nj reference.... living in its shadows my whole life I *completely* understand ur joke

This guy has a magical talent in making a perfectly natural transition of any video into the sponsored ad

USE METRIC

I really enjoy how smoothly you segue into the end ad

“Because logic and sensibility doesn’t exist in Russia....” Lmao

The sponsor transitions are getting smoother and smoother

2:33 it’s pronounced “Oh-sh-loh)

i was subbed to wendover for so long and discovered this, amazing.

which one of these towns Santa clause from?

1:01 I have been on that boat (far left) , they offer fishing charters.

I live in Tromsø

It is true that Svalbard is a visa free area, where anyone can just go, stay, and work. If you can find work, and if you have the money. However, GETTING TO Svalbard is not quite so easy. If you are a Schengen citizen, or if you don't need a visa to go to Schengen, then you can just go there. But I don't know of any commercial airlines that go to Svalbard, except those that go from Norway. And that is considered a domestic flight. Which means you need to get into Norway. Which means getting a Schengen visa.

Helsinki mainittu, torille

Murmansk is a tropical resort compared to Barrow. Today's forecast (21 Dec 2020) : Murmansk +1 ℃, Barrow -28 ℃.

*2:49* Am I the only one who doesn't live in this map?

Makes total sense. Canadian Alert is definitely the most northern settlement but it is not a town. It is more like a scientific and military station.

Tromsø has a population of 74.541 (2017) It's oke tho

*FACT:* Near Ny-Alesund lies the former Dutch and Danish settlements.

How tf did he just pronounce, "Ny-Ålesund??"

I usually don't like it when RU-vidrs do ads in their videos, but this guy segues into his ads so well that I almost like it. None of those cringe worthy dub step rap ads with crappy auto-tune on this channel. thanks for that, guys.

I wanna become a stupid RU-vidr up there.

Love that transition

I did not even watch the whole video as I know the northernmost town is Alert in Canada.

That transition to the ending advertisement was so fucking slick I swear.

If you ask a Brit what the Northernmost town in the world, we'd think it would be Edinburgh? We're not that dumb. I would have said Hammerfest, Norway which is still wrong. But come on, Edinburgh? How little you must think of us. Americans would think it's Toronto? Yeah... I can see that.