Dying Is Banned On This Norwegian Island

On the freezing cold Norwegian island of Longyearbyen it’s legal to live, but illegal to die.  The law has been instated since 1950 all because it’s just way too cold.  Around that time, bodies that were buried in the local cemetery weren’t decomposing due to the freezing temperatures.

In the 2000’s, scientists investigated further and found that those buried there that died of the 1917 influenza still carried live samples of the virus.  The virus literally froze alive.  Thanks to those findings, no one else can be buried there for fear of it spreading to its 2,000 inhabitants.

So what happens if someone is to die?  The island doesn’t even have elderly care facilities, so anyone on the brink of kicking the bucket gets transferred to the main land.  Usually they’ll spend their remaining days in Oslo.  Longyearbyen does allow cremated urns to be buried in its graveyard, but no one bothers to risk it.  Other things that are banned on the island include giving birth and cats to protect the Arctic bird population.


Source: The Sun


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