Lange Island
{{Short description|Island in Svalbard, Norway}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Lange Island
| native_name = Langeøya
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| map = Svalbard
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| coordinates = {{coord|78.99|N|21.34|E|type:isle_region:NO_dim:10000|display=inline,title}}
| area_km2 =
| country = Norway
| population =
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Lange Island{{Cite web |date=1994-01-14 |title=Lange: Svalbard: Geographical Names |url=https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-3392602&fid=5889&c=svalbard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508140546/https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-3392602&fid=5889&c=svalbard |archive-date=2016-05-08 |website=National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency}} ({{langx|no|Langeøya}}){{Cite web |title=Stadnamn i norske polarområde: Langeøya (Svalbard) |url=https://stadnamn.npolar.no/Lange%C3%B8ya/Svalbard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120204514/https://stadnamn.npolar.no/ |archive-date=2023-01-20 |website=Norwegian Polar Institute Place Names |language=no}} is the largest of the Bastian Islands in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies east of Wilhelm Island and northeast of Spitsbergen.
The island is essentially a long series of low basalt cliffs measuring {{convert|6|km|mi|sp=us}} from east to west, connected by sand bars. Its highest points, both unnamed, stand at its west and east ends, both reaching an elevation of {{convert|56|m|ft|sp=us}} above sea level. The cliffs between then reach elevations of {{convert|40|to(-)|45|m|sp=us}}. The northwest end of the island is named Dove Spit ({{langx|no|Doveneset}}) and the southwest end Lange Point ({{langx|no|Langesporden}}, literally 'Lange Fishtail'). The closest neighboring islands are Ehrenberg Island about {{convert|500|m|ft|sp=us}} to the north and Peschel Island about {{convert|900|m|ft|sp=us}} to the southwest. The wildlife consists largely of polar bears.
The Bastian Islands were discovered in 1867 by the Swedish-Norwegian polar explorer Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck, who was the first to sail around Spitsbergen. Most of the Bastian Islands were named during the First German North Polar Expedition in 1868, led by Carl Koldewey. One might assume the physical shape of the island to be the origin of its name (from Norwegian lang 'long'); however, the island is in fact named after Henry Lange, a German cartographer and publisher of many maps and an atlas.