The Medvezhyi Islands, or Bear Islands is an uninhabited group of islands at the western end of the Kolyma Gulf

Kolyma Gulf

The Kolyma Gulf is the largest gulf of the East Siberian Sea...

 of the East Siberian Sea

East Siberian Sea

The East Siberian Sea is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings, close to Chukotka, and Wrangel Island to the east...

. It is located about 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) to the north of the mouths of the Kolyma River

Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...

. The coast of Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 is about 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) to the southwest of the largest island, which is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) km long. The islands of this island group are covered with tundra vegetation.

The sea surrounding the Medvezhyi Islands is covered with fast ice in the winter and the climate is severe. The surrounding sea is obstructed by pack ice even in the summer months. There is commercial fishing in the area of the islands during the summer.

This island group is a part of the territory of the Sakha Republic of Russia. As their name indicates, these islands are a refuge and breeding ground for polar bear

Polar Bear

The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...

s.

History

The first recorded European to report the existence of the Medvezhyi Islands was Russian explorer Yakov Permyakov

Yakov Permyakov

Yakov Permyakov was a Russian seafarer, explorer, merchant, and Cossack.In 1710, while sailing from the Lena River to the Kolyma River, Permyakov observed the silhouette of two unknown island groups in the sea...

 in 1710. While sailing from the Lena

Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...

 to the Kolyma River

Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...

, Permyakov observed the silhouette of the unknown island group in the then little explored East Siberian Sea.

In 1820-1824, during Ferdinand Wrangel's Arctic expedition to the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific...

, Arctic explorer Fyodor Matyushkin

Fyodor Matyushkin

Fyodor Fyodorovich Matyushkin was a Russian navigator, Admiral , and a close friend of Aleksandr Pushkin.Matyushkin graduated from Tsarskoselskiy College in 1817...

 surveyed and mapped Chetyryokhstolbovoy Island in the Medvezhyi group.

On September 3, 1878, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld

Freiherr Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld , also known as A. E. Nordenskioeld was a Finnish baron, geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer of Finnish-Swedish origin. He was a member of the prominent Finland-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists...

 recorded that he sailed close to the island group in the steamship Vega

Vega (ship)

SS Vega was a Swedish barque, built in Bremerhaven Germany in 1872. She was the first ship to complete a voyage through the Northeast Passage, and the first vessel to circumnavigate the Eurasian continent.-Construction:...

. This was during the famous expedition that made the whole length of the Northeast passage

Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...

for the first time in history.