Archipelago Severnaya Zemlya

Severnaya Zemlya is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean in the northern part of Russia, which belongs to the territory of the Krasnoyarsk region, it is one of the most interesting and mysterious places on the planet. The total area of the archipelago overcomes 37000 sq.km. The archipelago, spad on the vastness of the northern sea, consists of four big and several small islands: Bolshevik, Krupskaya island, October Revolution island, Starokadomsky island, Schmidt island, Pioneer, Maly Taimyr, Naidenysh and others. And on Komsomolets island there is Arctic Cape, which is the northernmost island point of Asia.

The history of its discovery is tightly connected with the expeditions and investigations of great Russian explorers. In 1913 the Russian polar expedition headed by Boris Vilkitsky discovered  Severnaya Zemlya. The archipelago got its name in honour of the Grand Duke Tesesarevich Nikolay Aleksandrovich. Also, one of the pioneers who discovered a part of this archipelago, was Russian explorer Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky in the beginning of the XX century. Later the archipelago was investigated by the researchers from different countries, including scientists-geographers and hydrographers. However, the major part is still poorly studied.

The minimal temperature in winter here reaches –47 °C, аand in summer it raises up to +6,2 °C. Despite the severe weather conditions there are many various mammals living here: polar bears, wild reindeer, coming from the mainland, polar foxes, wolves and lemmings. Ringed seals, Greenland seals, beluga whales and walruses live in the coastal waters.

The climate here is very severe. The archipelago banks are often covered with ice and icebergs, and the northern seа is frozen during the major part of the year. Life here is hard and demands for special endurance and training.

The minor part of the archipelago’s territory is covered with lichen and moss, and its fauna is psented by different species of large and seа birds.

One of the best-known place on Severnaya Zemlya is Vaigach, the biggest island in the Kara Sea. There is also Chelyuskin strait, Sedov lake and a lot of other geographical objects.

The archipelago is the home for many polar explorers and scientists. The biggest part of the archipelago’s territory still remains uninhabited. However, there are scientific stations, where scientists hold researches of nature, climate and geography of the region.

The explorations on Severnaya Zemlya started in 1930-s, when the Soviet expedition headed by Aleksey Laptev started to investigate these lands. The expedition participants have made lots of discoveries and gathered valuable data on nature and life on Severnaya Zemlya. One of the main challenges for polar explorers is its severe climate and difficult ways of travelling. Cold, wind and plenty of ice make the investigation of this region very difficult and dangerous.

Today the explorers from the Russian Geographical Society inform that the archipelago’s glaciers are rapidly melting at psent time.  

In 2020, the Governor of the region Alexander Uss supported the idea of giving back the archipelago Severnaya Zemlya its historical name – the Land of the Emperor Nikolay II.

Photo: Vladimir Melnik, Dmitry Ryabov, Andrey Parshin, Evgeny Gusev.