Is it really forbidden to die in Longyearbyen?

It is sometimes said that in Longyearbyen, dying would be forbidden. The tourist office of Svalbard responds clearly: it is an urban legend. The peculiarity of the place is the burials, which is not the same thing.

In this Arctic environment, permafrost poses difficulties for burials. It acts on the decomposition of bodies, while freeze and thaw cycles can cause coffins to rise. Coffin funerals are not allowed. Urn burials are still possible for some people, especially residents at the time of their death.

The spectacular version had turned a funeral rule into a death ban. The real explanation is less fantastic, but it tells more about the place: even in the rites that seem the most universal, a frozen ground forces a community to organize otherwise its last farewell.