The Firnley Islands ( rus, острова Фирнлея; ''Ostrova Firnleya'', nn, Firnleyøyane) is a group of three small islands covered with tundra vegetation and with scattered stones on their shores. They lie in the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

, close to the bleak coast of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrati ...

, not far east of the Nordenskjold Archipelago. These islands lie about 35 km from the continental shore. The Firnley Islands were named by

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

after

Thomas Fearnley Thomas Fearnley (27 December 1802 – 16 January 1842) was a Norwegian romantic painter, a pupil of Johan Christian Dahl and a leading representative of Norwegian romantic nationalism in painting. His son Thomas Fearnley (1841–1927) founded t ...

^?, a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

merchant who was one of the main financiers of the ''

Fram Fram may refer to: Ships * ''Fram'' (ship), an arctic exploration vessel from Norway * MS ''Fram'', expedition cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten Group Places and geography * Fram, Paraguay, a town in Itapúa, Paraguay * Fram Formation, a se ...

'' expedition. They were also explored later by the

Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition (GESLO) (1910–1915) was a scientific expedition organized by Russia for the purpose of the development of the Northern Sea Route. This expedition accomplished its goal of exploring the uncharted areas ...

Geography

The Firnley Islands are covering the entrance to the

Vilkitsky Strait : Vilkitsky Strait (russian: link=no, пролив Вилькицкого) is a strait between the Taimyr Peninsula and Bolshevik Island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. The strait connects the Kara and Laptev Seas. The length of the Vilkits ...

from the west. They are all relatively small islands, Dlinnyy, the largest of the group, is only about 5 km in length. The sea surrounding the islands is covered with fast ice in the winter, which is long and bitter, and the climate is exceptionally severe. The surrounding sea is obstructed by pack ice even in the summer, so that these islands are connected with the mainland for most of the year. This island group belongs to the

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...

administrative division of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is also part of the

Great Arctic State Nature Reserve The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve (russian: Большой Арктический государственный природный заповедник) is a nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife san ...

, the largest nature reserve of Russia. The Firnley Islands were named by

after

^?, a

merchant who was one of the main financiers of the ''

'' expedition.

Adjacent islands

Although located relatively close by, the following islands are usually not considered part of the Firnley group: *Moristy Island is a round isolated island located 20 km north of the Firnley group. Moristy is 600 m across. *Lishny Island lies 35 km further SSE of Yuzhnyy Firnleya, north of Toll Bay and 16 km from Cape Sterligov on the coast. Lishniy is 1.3 km long and 650 m wide and is location of a missing nuclear generator. *Levinson-Lessing Island (Ostrov Levinsona-Lessinga) is located close to the shore, 23 km to the NE of Lishniy. This 7 km long island was named after prominent Russian geologist

Feodor Yulievich Levinson-Lessing Franz Yulievich Levinson-Lessing (russian: Фра́нц Юльевич Левинсо́н-Ле́ссинг), or ''Theodor Levinson-Lessing'' (March 9, 1861 – October 25, 1939 in St. PetersburgTomkeieff S.I. Franz Youlievich Loewinson-Lessin ...

References

Archipelagoes of the Kara Sea Archipelagoes of Krasnoyarsk Krai {{KrasnoyarskKrai-geo-stub

Geography

Adjacent islands

See also

References