Lange Island ( no, Langeøya) is the largest of the

Bastian Islands The Bastian Islands ( no, Bastianøyane) are a group of islands in Hinlopen Strait, Svalbard. The islands are located southeast of Wilhelm Island Wilhelm Island ( no, Wilhelmøya) is an island in the Svalbard archipelago. It is situated northeast ...

in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies east of Wilhelm Island and northeast of Spitsbergen. The island is essentially a long series of low basalt cliffs measuring from east to west, connected by sand bars. Its highest points, both unnamed, stand at its west and east ends, both reaching an elevation of above sea level. The cliffs between then reach elevations of . The northwest end of the island is named Dove Spit ( no, Doveneset) and the southwest end Lange Point ( no, Langesporden, literally 'Lange Fishtail'). The closest neighboring islands are

Ehrenberg Island Ehrenberg Island ( no, Ehrenbergøya) is a minor island in the Bastian Islands in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies north of Lange Island. The island has the shape of an inverted teardrop and its highest elevation is above sea level. The closes ...

about to the north and Peschel Island about to the southwest. The wildlife consists largely of

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

. The Bastian Islands were discovered in 1867 by the Swedish-Norwegian polar explorer Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck, who was the first to sail around Spitsbergen. Most of the Bastian Islands were named during the First

German North Polar Expedition The German North Polar Expeditions were a short series of mid-19th century German expeditions to the Arctic. The aim was to explore the North Pole region and to brand the newly united, Prussian-led German Empire as a great power. In 1866, German ge ...

in 1868, led by Carl Koldewey. One might assume the physical shape of the island to be the origin of its name (from Norwegian ''lang'' 'long'); however, the island is in fact named after Henry Lange, a German cartographer and publisher of many maps and an atlas.

References

Islands of Svalbard {{svalbard-geo-stub