area 20 700 km²/8000 sq mi. Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, N of Novaya Zemlya, NW Russia; over 160 islands of volcanic origin; declared Soviet territory in 1926; most northerly land of the E hemisphere; uninhabited save for a meteorological station on Ostrov Gukera (Hooker I).
Franz Josef Land (Russ. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with an area of 16,134 km² and is largely uninhabited.
At latitudes between 80.0° and 81.9° north, it is the most northerly group of islands associated with Eurasia. The extreme northernmost point is Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island (ostrov Rudolfa). The archipelago is only 900 to 1110 km (560 to 690 statute miles) from the North Pole, closer than all land masses except for Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland.
The archipelago was discovered in 1873 by the Austrian polar explorers Payer and Weyprecht, who named it in honour of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. As the expedition was only privately sponsored and not official, these islands have never been part of Austria. In 1926 the islands were taken over by the Soviet Union, and a few inhabitants came for research and military purposes.
Characteristics
The archipelago is volcanic, composed of Tertiary and Jurassic basalts, and though covered mostly by ice it does have outcroppings covered with moss and lichens. The northeastern part of the archipelago is locked in pack ice all year round, however the ice sometimes retreats past the southern islands in the late summer. The northernmost point in the archipelago, and in the entirety of Asia, is Mys Fligeli (Fligeli Point), on Ostrov Rudolfa (Rudolfa Island), which reaches as far north as 81°52'N. The largest island is Zemlya Georga (Georga Island) which measures 69 miles (110 km) from end to end. The highest point in the archipelago is on Zemlya Viner-Neyshtadt (Viner-Neyshtadt Island) which reaches 2,035 ft (620 m) MSL.
Weather
In January the normal daily low is −15 °C (5 °F) and the high is −10.5 °C (13 °F).
Wildlife
Native wildlife consists mostly of walrus, Arctic foxes, and polar bears. Caribou antlers have been found on Hooker Island, suggesting that herds reached here up to about 1,300 years ago during a warmer climate.
Places of significance
The following list describes important islands in Franz Josef Land and their significance. Ostrov Rudolfa (Rudolf Island) is the northernmost island. Ostrov Greem-Bell (Graham Bell Island). Ostrov Tsiglera (Ziegler Island). Ostrov Nortbruk (Northbrook Island). The island is the most accessible location in the island group and formed the main base for polar expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1904 coal was mined about 150 m (500 ft) up the slopes by explorers wintering over after their ship sank at Rudolf Island. Ostrov Dzheksona (Jackson Island). Cape Norway (80°12′N 55°37′E) was where Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen wintered in 1895-96 after failing to reach the North Pole. Ostrov Gukera (Hooker Island). Ostrov Aldzher (Alger Island). Zemlya Vilcheka (Wilczek Island). This tiny island (81°11′N 58°16′E) is the site of a large walrus rookery. Ostrov Gallya was on August 30, 1873, the first of the Franz Josef Islands to be discovered. A small camp was built at Mys Tegetkhof (Cape Tegetthoff, 80°05′N 58°01′E) by the Walter Wellman expedition in 1898-99 and contains a marker honoring the discovery of the archipelago.
History
The archipelago was discovered on August 30, 1873 by Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition explorers Karl Weyprecht and Julius von Payer while their ship was locked in ice trying to find a northeast passage. After exploration of its southern islands, the name was bestowed in honor of Austrian emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. The Norwegians Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen passed through the islands in 1895/96 after an aborted attempt to reach the pole. By sheer coincidence, they met British explorer Frederick George Jackson at Northbrook Island in 1896. The islands were claimed by Norway for some time, which called them "Fridtjof Nansen Land", a name seen on many old maps.
In July 1931, a German airship marked a milestone in Russian polar exploration. The Graf Zeppelin travelled from Berlin to Hooker Island, by way of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). After travelling east along the 81st parallel to Severnaya Zemlya, it returned to Hooker Island and began a groundbreaking aerial survey of the archipelago, flying as far north as Ostrov Rudolfa.
During the Cold War years, the polar regions were a hot buffer zone between the U.S. and Russia, and many points in the arctic became key strategic locations. The islands were declared one of many national security areas from the 1930s to 1991, and were off limits to foreigners. An airfield was built at Greem Bell to serve as a staging base for Russian bomber aircraft, and training missions were quite common between Franz Josef Land, the mainland, and Novaya Zemlya. Though the islands were militarily sensitive, a cruise ship visited in 1971.
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