Alexandra Land


Alexandra Land is a large island located in Franz Josef Land, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Not counting detached and far-lying Victoria Island, it is the westernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago. It is the site of a Russian military base that was reopened in 2017.

Geography

The highest point of the island,, is the summit of Kupol Lunny "Dome of the Moon", a large ice dome covering most of the western part of the island. At the western end of the western glaciated area lies the Nordenskiöld Glacier; other glaciers in the island are the Worcester Glacier and the Payer Glacier. The northern part of the island is unglacierized and its eastern end forms a peninsula stretching southwards, the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. This peninsula is covered by Kupol Kropotkina, a smaller ice dome. There are three large lakes on the island, including the Utinoye Lake and the Ledyanoye Lake.
Dezhnev Bay ' lies between the western part of the island and the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. Cape Thomas ' is the southernmost headland of the peninsula. Cambridge Channel is a wide sound between Alexandra Land and Zemlya Georga.
At the southern end this island has two capes pointing southwestwards in its southernmost coast: Cape Lofley and Cape Ludlow. Cape Mary Harmsworth, the cape pointing westwards is the westernmost point of the Franz Josef Archipelago proper.

History and ecology

The English explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith, sighted Alexandra Land in 1880, but did not land. He named the area for Alexandra, then Princess of Wales.
An alternative account states that the name "Alexandra Land" commemorates Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia, who became Archduchess of Austria in 1799 upon her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary.
Alexandra Land is home to Nagurskoye military base, Russia's northernmost military base, built in the 1950s.
Russian navigator Valerian Albanov of the Svyataya Anna reached Cape Mary Harmsworth in Alexandra Land in 1914 after his ordeal on the polar ice. Cape Mary Harmsworth was named after Alfred Harmsworth's wife Mary. Alfred Harmsworth, fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, was the main sponsor of the 1894 Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition to Franz Josef Land.
The polar bear, Ursus maritimus, is found on Alexandra Land. The polar bear population in this region, as in other Arctic subregions, is genetically distinct from other polar bear subpopulations in differing Arctic subregions.
During World War II, the Germans established an ill-fated meteorological station on the island, called Schatzgräber. Most of the members were stricken with trichinosis after eating raw polar bear meat. The survivors were removed and the project abandoned.

Nagurskoye

is a Russian base located on the island at, on the site of the former meteorological station. It was named after pioneer pilot Jan Nagórski and served as one of the most important meteorological stations in the archipelago during the Cold War. This base has a snow runway. An Antonov An-72 cargo aircraft crashed while landing at Nagurskoye on 23 December 1996.
A major new base, named the "Arctic Trefoil" for its three-lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye. It can house 150 soldiers for 18 months and has an area of.