‘I visited the most northern town in the world – one astonishing law blew my mind’

Travelling to the remote town of Longyearbyen off the coast of ,  was blown away as he discovered one strange rule that the  had.

Having made the trip to the town of Longyearbyen on the island of Svalbard from his native , Simon picked up on a number of unusual quirks about the ‘Northernmost town on Earth’. However, it was a law that states that it is illegal to die which shocked him most.

Trying to find out more about the law, he spoke to one local resident, Marcus, who elaborated on the peculiar rule and why it exists.

He said: “There’s no elderly home (retirement home) and of course there have been cases of people dying here but in general, if somebody is too elderly or can’t take care of themselves they’re not allowed to be on the island.”

And Simon probed him further on the issue, as he asked what happens when people on the island reach old age.

Marcus explained: “(The local government) have a register of who is what age and who is working, who is not” 

He added that locals usually begin to leave the island as they reach 70.

While the law might sound bizarre at first glance, the reasoning is rooted in age-old scientific evidence according to Christian Meyer, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Christian explained the ban, saying: “The reason for this is that the permanently frozen ground will not only tend to keep your buried remains from decomposing and push them to the surface – it may also perfectly preserve the disease that killed you, for locals to pick up later.”

He added: “If you seem to be about to expire, every effort will be made to send you to the mainland.”

While the town has become known for its odd rule surrounding death, it is also set in law that anyone in the town must carry a gun.

According to secretatlas.com: “Since 2012, it has been a legal requirement that anyone travelling outside of a settlement must carry a firearm due to the threat posed by polar bears.”