Bolshevik Island (Russian: о́стров Большеви́к, ) is the southernmost island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian Arctic, and the second largest island in the group. The island was discovered by Boris Vilkitsky in 1913, but its insularity wasn’t proven until 1931, when Georgy Ushakov and Nikolay Urvantsev charted the archipelago during their 1930–32 expedition.
The area of this island has been estimated at 11,270 km². The island is mountainous reaching a height of 935 m, and it houses an arctic base named Prima. About 30% of the island is covered by glaciers, while the coastal plains have a sparse vegetation of moss and lichen. Its northwestern shore has some fjords; the most important are: Fiord Tel'mana, Fiord Spartak and Fiord Partizan.
Bolshevik Island houses at least three glacier systems: Leningrad and Semenov-Tyan Shansky glaciers, as well as a smaller glacier, Kropotkin.
Ostrov Tash is a small island located on Bolshevik's southern shore. Lavrov Island is located off the NE shore and Ostrov Lishniy off its northern tip.
There has been a request to rename Bolshevik island Svyataya Olga (St. Olga).
Read more about Bolshevik Island: Weather Conditions
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“An island always pleases my imagination, even the smallest, as a small continent and integral portion of the globe. I have a fancy for building my hut on one. Even a bare, grassy isle, which I can see entirely over at a glance, has some undefined and mysterious charm for me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)