Franz Josef Land

Archipelago of over 85 islands in the Arctic Ocean, east of Svalbord and northwest of Novaya Zemlya, Russia; area 20,720 sq km/8,000 sq mi. There are scientific stations on the islands.

The archipelago is divided into three parts: eastern, with the large islands of Wilczek Land and Graham Bell, separated from the others by the Austrian Straits; central, containing a large number of small islands, between the Austrian and British channels; and western, west of the British Channel, with the largest island of all, George Land.

Over 85 % of the archipelago is covered with glaciers, the highest of which, on Wiener-Neustadt island, rises to 620 m/2,046 ft. The islands were discovered in 1873 by the Austro-Hungarian expedition of von Payer and Weyprecht. The population consists of temporary residents only, mainly meteorological observers and fur trappers.