Eva Island or Eva-Liv Island (Russian: Остров Ева-Лив; Ostrov Yeva-Liv) is the northeasternmost island in Franz Josef Land, Russian Arctic. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land ( Russ Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
Eva Island is roughly rabbit-shaped and its surface is 288 km². The highest point of the island is 381 m.
The area where Eva Island lies was named Hvidtenland (White Land) by Fridtjof Nansen who reached Eva Island's coast on August 5th 1895 during his polar expedition. Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (October 10 1861 – May 13 1930 was a Norwegian Explorer, Scientist and Diplomat. In his map he drew two islands and he named the largest one to the east Eva Island after his wife Eva Nansen (died in 1907). The "island" to the west, which Nansen reached two days later, was named "Liv Island".
Since the limit of permanent ice crosses Belaya Zemlya, it is often difficult to distinguish between land and sea. However, as the cartography of the Franz Josef Archipelago became more accurate, it became apparent that "Liv Island" was only a peninsula at the western end of Eva Island. Therefore some maps still mention "Eva-Liv Island", a combination of both names.
The heavily glacierized group formed by Eva Island and its two adjacent small islands (Frieden and Adelaide) is still known in Russian as Белая Земля (Belaya Zemlya), also meaning "White Land", thus retaining Fridjof Nansen's original name. Belaya Zemlya ( Белая Земля lit "White Land" is a group of three cold glacierized islands
Belaya Zemlya is separated from the main Franz Josef group by a 45 km broad strait known as Proliv Severo Vostochnyy.
This is the point of the Franz Josef Archipelago that Russian navigator Valerian Albanov of the doomed Brusilov expedition was trying to reach when he left the Svyataya Anna with part of the crew. Valerian Ivanovich Albanov (Валериан Иванович Альбанов (1881 - 1919 was a Russian navigator best known for being one of only two survivors of the ill-fated Georgy Lvovich Brusilov (Георгий Львович Брусилов or Hryhoriy Brusylov (1884 in Mykolayiv, Ukraine - 1914? was a Russian The Svyataya Anna or St Anna, named after Saint Anne, was a Russian ship built in England Albanov, however, ended up far to the southwest in Alexandra Land. Alexandra Land (Земля Александры Zemlya Aleksandry) is a large island located in Franz Josef Land, Russian Federation.
Adjacent Islands
- A few miles to the southwest lies small Adelaide Island (Остров Аделаиды), named in honor of Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg ( July 20, 1835 - January 25, 1900) was a niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It is only 2km in length
- Frieden Island (Остров Фреден), is a larger oval-shaped island, with a length of 8. 2 km. It lies 2. 5 km south of Adelaide Island. This island was named after the German word for "Peace".
References
- Fridtjof Nansen's early map
- [1]
- Eva Nansen: [2]
- Names in Russian: [3]