Alexandra Land#Geography

The highest point of the island, {{convert|382|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, is the summit of Kupol Lunny (Купол Лунный) "Dome of the Moon", a large ice dome covering most of the western part of the island.{{cite web|url=http://mapcarta.com/13996218|title=Kupol Lunny|work=Mapcarta|accessdate=6 October 2016}} At the western end of the western glaciated area lies the Nordenskiöld Glacier;{{cite web|url=http://www.franz-josef-land.info/index.php?id=645|title=Alexandra Land – Franz-Joseph-Land|work=Franz-Joseph-Land Info|accessdate=8 October 2016|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203073651/http://www.franz-josef-land.info/index.php?id=645|url-status=dead}} other glaciers in the island are the Worcester Glacier (HMS Worcester Glacier){{cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_55/September_1899/Scientific_Literature|title=Popular Science Monthly/Volume 55/September 1899/Scientific Literature|work=Wikisource|accessdate=11 October 2016}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://mapcarta.com/13996222|title=Poluostrov Polyarnykh Letchikov|work=Mapcarta|accessdate=6 October 2016}} This peninsula is covered by Kupol Kropotkina (Купол Кропоткина), a smaller ice dome.{{cite web|url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=271372&fid=5396&c=russia|title=Kupol Kropotkina, Russia - Geographical Names, map, geographic coordinates|work=geographic.org}} There are three large lakes on the island, including the Utinoye Lake (Duck Lake) and the Ledyanoye Lake (Ice Lake).

Dezhnev Bay (Zaliv Dezhneva) lies between the western part of the island and the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. Cape Thomas (Mys Tomasa) is the southernmost headland of the peninsula. Cambridge Channel (Proliv Kambritch) 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.

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.

{{cite book

| last1 = Mills

| first1 = William James

| chapter = Alexandra Land (Franz Josef Land)

| title = Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PYdBH4dOOM4C

| volume = 1

| location = Santa Barbara, California

| publisher = ABC-CLIO

| date = 2003

| page = 9

| isbn = 9781576074220

| access-date = 2 October 2019

| quote = [...] discovery is generally credited to Benjamin Leigh Smith in 1880, who named it for Princess Alexandra, wife of Edward, Prince of Wales.

}}

An alternative account states that the name "Alexandra Land" commemorates Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (1783–1801), who became Archduchess of Austria in 1799 upon her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary (1776-1847).{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition led by Frederick Jackson was the first to set foot on Alexandra Land in 1895. Cape Mary Harmsworth was named after main sponsor Alfred Harmsworth's wife Mary. In 1897, Jackson established that the land discovered by Leigh Smith was in fact composed of two separate islands. He named the southeastern island Prince George Land.{{cite journal |last1=Capelotti |first1=Peter Joseph |last2=Forsberg |first2=Magnus |title=The place names of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa: Leigh Smith's Eira expeditions, 1880 and 1881–1882 |journal=Polar Record |date=2015 |volume=51 |issue=256 |pages=16–23 |doi=10.1017/S0032247413000429|bibcode=2015PoRec..51...16C |s2cid=129006829 }} pp. 20f.

Russian navigator Valerian Albanov of the Svyataya Anna reached Cape Mary Harmsworth in Alexandra Land in 1914 after his ordeal on the polar ice.

During World War II, the Germans established an ill-fated meteorological station on the island, called Schatzgräber ("Treasure Hunter"). Most of the members were stricken with trichinosis after eating raw polar bear meat. The survivors were removed and the project abandoned.{{cite news |last1=Warnes |first1=Indra |title=Secret NAZI ice-base ordered by Adolf Hitler discovered in Arctic |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/724071/Secret-NAZI-ice-base-ordered-by-Adolf-Hitler-discovered-in-Arctic |accessdate=22 October 2016 |work=The Express |date=22 October 2016}}{{cite book | last = Dege | first = Wilhelm | translator = William Barr | title = War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II | publisher = University of Calgary Press | year = 2003 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=avYLAQAAMAAJ | isbn = 1-55238-110-2}}

During the Cold War it was the site of the 31st Independent Radio-Technical Company (Military Unit Number 03184 ([https://vk.com/club23710157])), part of the 10th Independent Air Defence Army of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.{{cite web | url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/pvo/radar/3rtp.htm | title=3rd Radio-Technical Regiment }}

File:Nagurskoye airfield (1).jpg

Alexandra Land is home to Nagurskoye military base, Russia's northernmost military base, built in the 1950s.

Nagurskoye is a Russian base located on the island at {{coord|80|49|N|47|25|E|}}, on the site of the former meteorological station. It was named after pioneer pilot Jan Nagórski (1888–1976) and served as one of the most important meteorological stations in the archipelago during the Cold War. This base has a {{convert|1500|m|ft|adj=mid|abbr=on|lk= out}} 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" (Arkticheskiy trilistnik) for its three-lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye. It can house 150 soldiers for 18 months and has an area of {{convert|14000|sqm}}.[http://conspiracy-cafe.blogspot.com/2015/10/russia-builds-second-military-base-to.html Russia Builds Second Military base to Support Arctic Ambitions]

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.{{cite web |url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=36084 |title=Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus |author=C. Michael Hogan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308140245/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=36084 |work=Globaltwitcher.com |editor=Nicklas Stromberg |archivedate=8 March 2012 }}

• List of islands of Russia
• List of glaciers of Russia
• Queen Victoria Sea

{{reflist}}

• Valerian Albanov, In the Land of White Death {{ISBN|9780679783619}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• [http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPOL%2FPOL43_01%2FS0032247406005791a.pdf&code=e3876566b6a7c5875e74d9e8bd98cb77 Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition]

{{Franz Josef Land}}

Category:Islands of Franz Josef Land

Category:Islands of Arkhangelsk Oblast

Category:Uninhabited islands of Russia