Cape Fligely · Ansgar WalkTHE NORTHERN FRONTIER
Rudolf Island
Cape Fligely, remote ice caps, and the history of journeys toward the pole.
BEYOND THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
Franz
Josef Land.
A world of islands, ice,
and extraordinary stories.
Explore the geography, wildlife, and polar history of one of the High Arctic’s most remote archipelagos.
HALL ISLAND · CAPE TEGETTHOFFPhotography: Timinilya / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Islands in the archipelago
- 190+
- Approximate land area
- 16,134 km²
- Covered by glaciers
- ~85%
- From the North Pole
- ~1,000 km
Northeastern Barents Sea · Russian High Arctic Reference figures & sources ↗
01 / FIND YOUR BEARINGS
A place to begin exploring.
From the northern edge of Rudolf Island to the historic shores of Cape Flora. Choose a place and follow its story.
FIELD ATLAS / FRANZ JOSEF LAND
Interactive archipelago atlas
Islands, polar history, and remarkable places at the edge of the Arctic Ocean.
16selected places
Skip map to place details
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Island
Historic site
Natural landmark
Drag to explore · + / − to zoom
Every island has a story
Select a marker, an island outline, or a place in the list to begin exploring.
02 / ISLANDS & PLACES
Every island has a story.
Cape Fligely · Ansgar Walk
Champ Island · DmitrijshhGEOLOGY IN THE OPEN
Champ Island
Stone spheres and Arctic shorelines. Get to know one of the archipelago’s most distinctive landscapes.
Regional satellite view · NASATHE LARGEST ISLAND
Prince George Land
Discover the western archipelago through its largest island, glaciers, and coastal geography.
03 / IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EXPLORERS
Across the ice.
Into the history books.
Icebound ships, winter shelters, and a chance meeting at Cape Flora. Follow the expeditions that brought these islands onto the map.
Follow the full timelineLand on the horizon
The Austro-Hungarian expedition sights Franz Josef Land.
Northward by sledge
Payer explores the islands before the expedition returns south.
A meeting at Cape Flora
Nansen encounters Jackson after a winter ashore with Johansen.
A new chapter in science
An expedition establishes the station at Tikhaya Bay.
EXPEDITION FIELD NOTES
The Tegetthoff expeditionJackson–Harmsworth, 1894–1897Fiala–Ziegler, 1903–1905
04 / THE MAP ROOM
The Arctic,
as they saw it.
Old coastlines. Unfamiliar names. New discoveries. Look closely at the charts that shaped our understanding of Franz Josef Land.
Original scans, source records, and side-by-side comparison. Historical charts preserve the knowledge—and the uncertainty—of their time.
Compare historical maps
05 / WILDLIFE & ECOLOGY
Life at the edge.
Meet the bears, walruses, and seabirds of the High Arctic, and explore their connections with the islands and the sea.
06 / ICE, CLIMATE & GEOLOGY
A landscape in motion.
Read the islands through their glaciers, sea ice, and ancient bedrock. Follow the observations that help us understand Arctic change.
FROM THE REFERENCE LIBRARY
Further into the archipelago.
Recent articles to take your reading a little further.
Islands & Places
Prince George Land – Largest Island of Franz Josef Land
Geology & Bedrock
Geology of Champ Island’s Stone Spheres
Historic Expeditions
Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition (1894–1897)
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
For the curious.
For the record.
An independent reference to the islands, exploration history, wildlife, and science of Franz Josef Land.
Start with a place. Follow an expedition. Compare a historical chart with a later perspective. This project brings those connections together in an accessible Arctic atlas.
Explore our map & image sources