The
Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen, signed in Paris 9 February 1920, commonly called the
Svalbard Treaty or the
Spitsbergen Treaty, recognises the sovereignty of
Norway over the
Arctic archipelago of
Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and not all Norwegian law applies. The treaty regulates the
demilitarisation of the archipelago. The signatories were given equal rights to engage in commercial activities (mainly
coal mining) on the islands. , Norway and
Russia are making use of this right.