Bjorne Islands, da, Bjørne Øer; kl, Nannut Qeqertaat) meaning 'Bear Islands', is an island group in the
Scoresby Sound
Scoresby Sound (Danish: ''Scoresby Sund'', Greenlandic: ''Kangertittivaq'') is a large fjord system of the Greenland Sea on the eastern coast of Greenland. It has a tree-like structure, with a main body approximately [Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...]
. The islands are uninhabited.
Administratively they belong to the
Sermersooq
Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...
municipality.
History
This island group was named by
Carl Ryder in the course of his
1891–92 East Greenland Expedition, because a bear was shot while the islands were being surveyed on 4 September 1891.
Individual islands were not assigned names, but in 1934 they were numbered I to XI following the first survey carried out by
Eduard Wenk and
Helge Backlund
Helge or Helgi is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch mostly male name.
The name is derived from Proto-Norse ''Hailaga'' with its original meaning being ''dedicated to the gods''. For its Slavic version, see Oleg. Its feminine equivalent is Olga. ...
. Members of the 1934 surveying group climbed parts of the spectacular ridges of islands VI and IX (''Första Nålbrevet'' and ''Sista Nålbrevet''). Further climbs were reported in 1978 by an expedition of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
.
[Place names, NE Greenland](_blank)
/ref>
Geography
The Bjorne Islands are a cluster of small islands that lie in the Hall Gulf ''(Hall Bredning)'', off the right side of the mouth of Ofjord
Ofjord ( kl, Ikaasakajik; da, Øfjord, meaning 'Island Fjord') is a fjord in King Christian X Land, eastern Greenland.
This fjord is part of the Scoresby Sound system.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 115 Admi ...
, south of the mouth of Nordvestfjord
Nordvestfjord, meaning 'Northwest Fjord', ( kl, Kangertertivarmît Kangertivat) is a fjord in King Christian X Land, eastern Greenland.
Administratively most of its length lies in the Northeast Greenland National Park area, at the border of Sermer ...
. The southern tip of the southernmost island rises north of Bregnepynt, the northeastern end of Milne Land
Milne Land or Milneland is a large island in eastern Greenland. It is the third largest island of Greenland, after the main island of Greenland and Disko Island. It is named after British admiral David Milne.
This island is popular among climbe ...
.[''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 116]
The biggest two islands are about in length.[ Google Earth]
See also
* List of islands of Greenland
Bibliography
*Kalsbeek, F. 1969: ''Preliminary report on the geology of Bjørneøer, Scoresby Sund.'' Rapport Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse 26, 33 pp.
References
Uninhabited islands of Greenland
{{Greenland-geo-stub