Rossøya, sometimes referred to as Ross Island in English, is an island located in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. It is a part of

Sjuøyane Sjuøyane (English: ''Seven Islands'') is the northernmost part of the Svalbard archipelago north of mainland Norway, and some 20 km north of the eastern major island Nordaustlandet. The islands are the northernmost landmass reachable by normal ...

, a group of islands in the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

archipelago, some 20 km north of the coast of

Nordaustlandet Nordaustlandet (sometimes translated as North East Land) is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopen Strait. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under la ...

Arctic Norway Arctic Norway ( no, Det arktiske Norge) comprises the northernmost parts of Norway that lie above the Arctic circle. Norway reaches from approximately 58°N to 81°N, so large parts lie north of the Arctic circle at 66°33′. In Norway, the nam ...

. Rossøya is located 100 m north-northwest of the somewhat larger island

Vesle Tavleøya Vesle Tavleøya ( en, Little Slate Island) is the larger island of the two northernmost of Sjuøyane - the other being Rossøya, north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Vesle Tavleøya is situated some 7 km northeast of Phippsøya Phippsøya (a ...

. The northern point of Rossøya, at 80° 49′ 44.41″ North, is the northernmost point in Svalbard, and thereby also in the Kingdom of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The distance to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

is 1024.3 kilometers (637 mi / 553 nm), to

Nordkapp ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

on the Norwegian mainland 1084 km and to

Pysen Pysen is a small skerry in Lindesnes municipality in Agder county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and no ...

, off the southern tip of mainland Norway, 2580 km. Some sources describe Rossøya as the northernmost point of Europe, but this requires that

Franz Josef Land , native_name = , image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg , image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land , image_size = , map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg , map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...

be considered part of Asia, since

Cape Fligely Cape Fligely (; ''Mys Fligeli''), is located on the northern shores of Rudolf Island and Franz Josef Land in the Russian Federation, and is the northernmost point of Russia, Europe, and Eurasia as a whole. It is south from the North Pole. Histo ...

Rudolf Island Prince Rudolf Land, Crown Prince Rudolf Land, Prince Rudolf Island or Rudolf Island (russian: Остров Рудольфа) is the northernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago, Russia and is home to the northernmost point in Russia. Owing ...

Russia 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 ...

, is located at 81° 48′ 24″ North, which is 109 km closer to the North Pole. The island is named after

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edwa ...

(1800–1862), a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

who was part of

William Edward Parry Sir William Edward Parry (19 December 1790 – 8 July 1855) was an Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for his 1819–1820 expedition through the Parry Channel, probably the most successful in the long quest for the Northwest Pass ...

's 1827 expedition with HMS ''Hecla'' to reach the

. After passing by Sjuøyane and Rossøya, the expedition was forced to give up, after getting stuck in the ice. However, the expedition set a new record as the expedition that had reached the furthest north at the time. The island may have been sighted as early as 1618, along with the rest of Sjuøyane, by an Enkhuizen whaler. However, the island was marked on a map as early as 1663 by Hendrick Doncker. This was later followed by cartographers such as

Pieter Goos Pieter Goos (1616–1675) was a Dutch cartographer, copperplate engraver, publisher and bookseller. He was the son of Abraham Goos (1590–1643), also a cartographer and map seller. From 1666, Pieter Goos published a number of well produced ...

Cornelis Giles Cornelis Giles (in Dutch: Cornelis Cornelisz. Gielis; – 2 July 1722) was a Dutch whaler, navigator, cartographer, and polar explorer. Life As a whaler in 1707, Giles traveled north of Nordaustlandet in Svalbard, and managed to reach a d ...

and Outger Rep. The island was included in the

Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve ( no, Nordaust-Svalbard naturreservat) is located in the north-eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The nature reserve covers all of Nordaustlandet, Kong Karls Land, Kvitøya, Sjuøyane, Storøya, ...

since 1 January 1973. Accessibility by ship can be difficult due to ice conditions, but the island is more affected by the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...

than more southeasterly parts of Svalbard. The island is slightly greenish, due to the plant '' Cochleraria groenlandica'', that thrives due to the natural fertilizing from the birds' excrements. The most common bird is the

little auk The little auk or dovekie (''Alle alle'') is a small auk, the only member of the genus ''Alle''. ''Alle'' is the Sami name of the long-tailed duck; it is onomatopoeic and imitates the call of the drake duck. Linnaeus was not particularly fam ...

, though other common species include the

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

and

Brünnich's guillemot The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' i ...

. Birds arrive in April–May, and stay during the summer. The only mammal is the

polar bear 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 ...

, which is most commonly found during the winter, when it can use the ice to cross to the island.

References

Islands of Svalbard {{Svalbard-geo-stub