Alexander I Island

Antarctic island lying west of the Antarctic Peninsula in the British Antarctic Territory, at 71° south, 70° west. It was discovered in 1821 by the Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who named it Alexander I Land.

The island is joined to the mainland by permanent sea ice. In 1940, however, it was confirmed that there was no land connection beneath the ice and that Alexander I Land was in fact an island.