Norway & its territory of Svalbard

The wildlife of Norway includes the diverse flora and fauna of Norway. As can be expected, the wildlife of Norway and Svalbard do vary widely. The habitats include high mountains, tundras, rivers, lakes, wetlands, sea coast and some lower cultivated land in the south. Mainland Norway has a long coastline, protected by skerries and much dissected by fjords. The mountains end suddenly atthe west coast and there is little in the way of a coastal plain. Between the mountains are deep valleys, with lowland largely limited to the southeastern region of the country and the south coast. The far northeast of the country is less mountainous, with rolling hills and the Finnmarksvidda plateau.  32% of Norway is located above the tree line, Further north still, the archipelago of Svalbard has an arctic climate; the land surface on the three large and many smaller islands is 60% glacier ice, 30% rock and scree, and only 10% is vegetated.

Land-based carnivores include the brown bear, the Eurasian wolf, the red fox and the Arctic fox, as well as the Eurasian lynx, the European badger, the Eurasian otter, the stoat, the least weasel, the European polecat, the European pine marten and the wolverine, while the coast is visited by the walrus and six species of seal, along with about thirty species of whale, dolphin and porpoise which are found in Norwegian waters.

Further north there are four terrestrial mammalian species on Svalbard, the Arctic fox, the Svalbard reindeer, the polar bear and the accidentally introduced southern vole, which is found only around Grumant. There are around eighteen species of marine mammal including whales, dolphins, seals and walruses.[9] The rock ptarmigan is the only resident species of bird but the snow bunting and wheatear also nest on Svalbard as do the nearly thirty species of seabird that migrate here each year. Most freshwater lakes in the Svalbard archipelago are inhabited by Arctic char.

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