Wilczek Land
Encyclopedia
Wilczek Land is a large-sized island located at 80.5833333°N 60.5°E. It is a part of Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Wilczek Land is the second largest island of the Franz Josef Archipelago. It is almost completely glaciarized except for two narrow areas along its western shores. The highest point on the island is 606 m.

This large island is named after Austro-Hungarian Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek
Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek
Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek was an Austro-Hungarian sponsor of Polar expeditions and artists....

. Count Hans Wilczek was the most important sponsor of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition
Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition
The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition was an expedition that ran from 1872–74 and discovered Franz-Josef Land. According to Julius von Payer, one of the leaders, the journey was to find the north-eastern passage. It actually explored the area northwest of Novaya Zemlya. According to the...

 to Franz Josef Land.

Mys Ganza is Wilczek Land's westernmost cape. The channel to the west, between Wilczek Land and Gallya
Gallya
Hall Island is an island in Franz Josef Land, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Hall Island is almost completely glacierized...

 is known as Avstriyskyy Proliv (Австрийский пролив).

This island should not be confused with small Wilczek Island
Wilczek Island
Wilczek Island, is located in the southeastern end of Franz Josef Land, Russia.Wilczek Island is a 10 km long island southwest of Salm Island, separated from the latter by a 3 km wide sound.-History:...

, "Остров Вильчека", located Southwest of Salm Island
Salm Island
Salm Island is a roughly round-shaped island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.Salm Island is almost completely glaciarized except for a cape in its southern shore. Its maximum length is 17 km and its area is 344 km²...

, in the Franz Josef group itself and which was also named after the same person.

History

Cape Geller (80°46′N 59°36′E) was the wintering site for two members of the 1899 Welle Expedition waiting for their team's return from the pole.

Adjacent small islands

  • Off Wilczek Land's southern bay, lies a small island called Klagenfurt Island (Остров Клагенфурт) about 9 km away from the shore. This island is named after Klagenfurt
    Klagenfurt
    -Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...

     (Slovene: Celovec), the capital of Carinthia
    Carinthia (state)
    Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...

    .
  • Right off Wilczek Land's eastern coast lie two small islets called Ostrova Gorbunova (Острова Горбунова) their location is (80°34′N 62°01′E). These islets were named after Russian naturalist Gregory Petrovich Gorbunov.
  • 1.5 km off Wilczek land's southeastern cape lie four islets in a row called (from NE to SW):
    • Ostrov Derevyannyy (Остров Деревянный).
    • Ostrov Daues (Остров Дауэс) or Davis Island, was named after Antarctic
      Antarctic
      The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

       navigator John King Davis
      John King Davis
      John King Davis, CBE was an English-born Australian explorer and navigator notable for his work captaining exploration ships in Antarctic waters as well as for establishing meteorological stations on Macquarie Island in the subantarctic and on Willis Island in the Coral Sea.-Early life:Davis's...

      .
    • Ostrov Mak-Nulta (Остров Мак-Нульта).
    • Ostrov Tillo (Остров Тилло), named after Ukrainian
      Ukrainians
      Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

       cartographer Oleksiy Tillo
      Oleksiy Tillo
      Aleksey Tillo was a prominent Russian geographer, cartographer, land surveyor, lieutenant general of the Russian Imperial Army ....

      . This island should not be confused with Tillo Island
      Tillo Islands
      The Tillo Islands is a group of small islands covered with tundra vegetation. They stretch along the Kara Sea coastal region, right off the bleak coast of Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula. Most of the islands of the group are a mere 3 or 4 km from the continental shore.The largest island of the...

       in the Kara Sea
      Kara Sea
      The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....

      .
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