FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON – Out Now – Living in Svalbard, Norway

Fortitude is a place like nowhere else on Earth. Surrounded by the savage beauty of the polar landscape, its future sparkling with the promise of Arctic opportunity, wealth and discovery, Fortitude is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here. Until now.

To celebrate the home entertainment release of the incredible new dark drama series, FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, we looked into some facts of what it’s really like to live in the remote Arctic Islands of Svalbard, the incredible setting for the show.

The chilling new thriller, FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is out now on Blu-ray and DVD...

LOCATION
In the Arctic Ocean lays a set of Norwegian group of islands, one of these is Svalbard. Its name means ‘the land with the cold coast’ or ‘cold edge’ which also makes it the perfect location for Fortitude and its icy theme.

TEMPERATURE 
During the winter, the sun stays below the horizon for 110 days straight, this means that The Svalbard Islands experience 110 days in entire darkness. Temperatures during winter these days are normally between – 12 and - 16°C.

RESIDENTS
There are currently more polar bears in Svalbard than there are people. With over 3000 polar bears and just 2,670 humans, it’s no wonder that one of the current job vacancies on Svalbard includes polar bear spotting.

GLACIER TOURS 
There are only a few roads in Svalbard, therefore, one of the main modes of transport for residents is via a snowmobile. Residents and tourists travelling on snowmobiles are also able to experience beautiful Svalbard ‘ice grottos’, where experienced guides take you down into the ice caves and canals, which are naturally created by the melting glacier water.

ECONOMY
In Svalbard, two of the main industries are coal mining and tourism. In the mining industry there have been excavations of phosphate, gold, iron, zinc, lead, copper, gypsum, asbestos and marble. Two of the most popular items are the gold and silver, which are not subject to customs and VAT regulations, making many goods cheaper than on the mainland of Norway.

DINING 
Svalbard’s culinary offers are based on local ingredients such as seal, whale, reindeer, grouse, duck and arctic char and on rare occasions you may even find polar bear meat on the menu. This can be washed down with naturally created mineral water. Owing to the low temperatures and the pure surroundings, surface water is also drinkable just about everywhere.

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 
In Svalbard, The Northern Lights can be seen every other clear night, if not even more frequently, due to the cosmic rays, solar wind and magnetospheric plasma interacting with the upper atmosphere. It is said that the Svalbard Islands are one of the best places to be able to watch this beautiful light display.

FORTITUDE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON IS AVAILABLE NOW ON BLU-RAY AND DVD