Russian Arctic islands

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The Russian Arctic islands are a number of islands groups and sole islands scattered around the Arctic Ocean.

Geography

The islands are all situated within the Arctic Circle and are scattered through the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, namely, the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea. The area extends some 7,000 kilometres (4,300 miles) from Karelia in the west to the Chukchi Peninsula in the east.[1]

The largest island is Severny Island which with an area of about 48,904 km2 (18,882 sq mi) is Russia's second largest island next to Sakhalin Island and the fourth largest island in Europe.

History

The Russian Empire officially claimed the Arctic islands to its north in a Note of the Russian Government of 20 September 1916 - this covered the islands of Henrietta, Jeannette, Bennett, Herald, Edinenie, New Siberia, Wrangel, Novaya Zemlya, Kolguev, Vaigach and others.[2] On 15 April 1926, the Soviet Union reaffirmed this claim.[2]

Islands

The area includes from west to east:[1][3]

References

  1. 1 2 Ocean dots at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)
  2. 1 2 Kovalev, Aleksandr Antonovich (2003). Contemporary Issues of the Law of the Sea: Modern Russian Approaches. eleven international publishing. p. 178.
  3. , Islands Web Site

Coordinates: 74°46′32″N 57°33′46″E / 74.77556°N 57.56278°E / 74.77556; 57.56278

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