The settlement of Smeerenburg on Amsterdam Island in north-west Svalbard, originated with Dutch whalers before 1620: one of Europe's northernmost outposts. During the first intensive phase of the Spitsbergen whale fishery, Smeerenburg served as the centre of operations in the north. (The name Smeerenburg, in the Dutch language, literally means "blubber town".) Around 1660, with the decline of whaling, the settlement became abandoned.

In 1973 the ruins of Smeerenburg became part of Norway's North West Spitsbergen National Park.