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Bobbydadude01 t1_j06odxo wrote

Reply to comment by masterjon_3 in Don't hate the state, hate the game by VulcanTrekkie45

Svalbard is in Norway.

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masterjon_3 t1_j06okjl wrote

Really? Fascinating. And here I'm thinking it's a country I've never heard of, like Andorra

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downwardspiralstairs t1_j06upp3 wrote

I've been to Andorra, it's sheep and duty free shopping in a mountain setting. I got some of their famous wool for my mom who then made a scarf for my sister. I saw the same wool for sale for less money in a local Massachusetts shop years later so as far as I am concerned the whole country is a tourist trap.

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StrugglesTheClown t1_j06yjmv wrote

You didn't just buy the wool. You got the story to go with it. "I travelled all the way to Andorra, just to get the finest of wool for your scarf."feel free to spice it up a little, but that's the real value. Or something.

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SlightlyStoopkid t1_j090nie wrote

“The real wool was the friends you made along the way”

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ogorangeduck t1_j0a4sml wrote

Welsh people: the real friends were the sheep you shagged along the way

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masterjon_3 t1_j06wwen wrote

That's really interesting. It's also interesting that they have their own language that's like a combination of French and Spanish. I've seen videos of people who have French and Spanish as their first language reacting to hearing it

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Stringgeek t1_j07bnlt wrote

Now I want to go to Andorra and buy some of their famous wool at the place where the sheep actually live. I can order all kinds of wool online and at my LYS, but it’s not the same as buying it where it’s grown. I did that in Iona, Scotland. Afterwards, I went on a short hike and got to see a bunch of the sheep whose fleeces were actually in the yarn I bought, roaming around free on the island. It was heinously touristy, but is one of my favorite memories from that trip.

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thegunnersdaughter t1_j0835se wrote

It's actually mildly more interesting than that - basically, the Svalbard Treaty did recognize Norway's sovereignty over it but there are a few limitations, and unlike mainland Norway, any citizen of a signatory country is permitted to live and conduct business on Svalbard, but nobody (not even Norwegians) are allowed permanent residency.

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masterjon_3 t1_j089aw8 wrote

But I found towns on there. Do they just go there for a few months out of the year? Do people live there in shifts?

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thegunnersdaughter t1_j08ajhq wrote

No, residents do live there year-round, but there's a somewhat famous saying that "it's illegal to die on Svalbard." The truth behind this is that the medical facilities on Svalbard are very, very limited, basically just a clinic. So if you are healthy and capable of caring for yourself, you can stay indefinitely, but otherwise you have to leave. I thought there was also a maximum age, above which you have to leave, but I can't find anything about that now.

Most people stay on average 7 years and tend to be younger. It's a place where a lot of people move during a time in their lives where they're looking for a new start or to escape their old life.

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masterjon_3 t1_j08d4am wrote

Interesting. From the pictures I've seen, the scenery looks beautiful, but I would miss civilization too much.

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Myungbean t1_j08azl7 wrote

The way I understood it is you can effectively live there permanently as long as you can prove you have the means to support yourself. If you have no income for a certain period (I don't recall how long), you can be forcibly evicted from the island.

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