The Fox Islands (russian: Лисьи острова) are a group of

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s in the eastern

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

of the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. The Fox Islands are the closest to mainland

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

in the Aleutian chain, and just east of Samalga Pass and the

Islands of Four Mountains Islands of Four Mountains (russian: Четырёхсопочные острова) is an island grouping of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, United States. The chain includes, from west to east, Amukta, Chagulak, Yunaska, Herbert, Carlisle, ...

group. Inhabited by the

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the ...

for centuries, the islands, along with the rest of the Aleutians, were first visited by

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

ans in 1741, when a Danish

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...

employed by the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

, Vitus Bering, was searching for new sources of fur for Russian fur trappers.

Fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

gy almost all year round, the islands are difficult to navigate due to constantly adverse weather and numerous

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock ...

s. The Fox Islands Passes are the waterways surrounding the islands. As with the other Aleutian islands, the Fox Islands are prone to frequent

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s year-round. The larger Fox Islands are, from west to east,

Umnak Umnak ( ale, Unmax, Umnax; russian: Умнак) is one of the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Islands. With of land area, it is the third largest island in the Aleutian archipelago and the 19th largest island in the United States. The island is home ...

, Unalaska, Amaknak, Akutan, Akun, Unimak and

Sanak ''Sanak'' () is a 2021 Indian Hindi language action thriller film directed by Kanishk Varma and produced by Zee Studios and Sunshine Pictures. It stars Vidyut Jammwal, Rukmini Maitra, Neha Dhupia and Chandan Roy Sanyal. Principal photography be ...

. Islands lying west of Akutan are in the Aleutians West Census Area. From Akutan eastward they are in the

Aleutians East Borough Aleutians East Borough () is a 2nd class List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska, borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the borough's population was 3,420. The borough seat is Sand Point, Alas ...

. ''Fox Islands'' is the English translation of the name given to the islands in the 18th century by Russian explorers and fur traders. The Islands are the setting for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

game Metal Gear Solid but are referred to as the Fox Archipelago.

References

{{Authority control Islands of the Aleutian Islands Islands of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska Islands of Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska Islands of Alaska Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska