In the High Arctic, a Manhattan-size piece of land with geopolitical implications has hit the market for €300 million ($323 million).

The sale comes as the Arctic experienced its warmest summer in 2023, and the Svalbard region has had less sea ice, more rain and higher temperatures because of climate change.

“This is the only possibility for a buyer to get a position in the High Arctic and establish a strategic foothold,” says Per Kyllingstad, a lawyer representing the sellers. He says it’s the last privately¹ held plot in the nine-island Norwegian archipelago.

The 14,830-acre plot lies approximately 40 miles away from the inhabited town of Longyearbyen (pop: 2,400) on the island of Spitsbergen. It includes more than 3 miles of coastline and is full of mountains, fjords and Arctic wildlife. From April to August, it’s under constant sunshine; October to February is the dark season.