The first analysis in Russian international legal doctrine of the legal status of the waters surrounding the Spitsbergen Archipelago, together with a consideration of the land territories of the various islands and related hydrocarbon and marine bioresource issues. Relevant international legal documents and diplomatic correspondence, including a number previously unpublished, are appended together with four maps and charts of the areas concerned. The authors are experienced Arctic and law of the sea specialists: Professor Vylegzhanin is the Director of the Center for Legal Problems of the Council of Productive Forces of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Professor Zilanov is an experienced diplomat in Arctic matters who has headed a number of Russian delegations for negotiations with Norway over marine bioresources. This translation has been edited and translated by William E. Butler, John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University; Academician, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.