Alexandra Land

Alexandra Land (Zemlya Aleksandry) is a large island located in Franz Josef Land, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Not counting detached and far-lying Victoria Island, it is the westernmost island of Franz Josef Land. It is the site of a Russian military base that was reopened in 2017. The highest point of the island, , is the summit of Kupol Lunny (Купол Лунный) "Dome of the Moon", a large ice dome covering most of the western part of the island. At the western end of the western glaciated area lies the Nordenskiöld Glacier; other glaciers in the island are the Worcester Glacier (HMS Worcester Glacier) and the Payer Glacier. The northern part of the island is unglacierized and its eastern end forms a peninsula stretching southwards, the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. This peninsula is covered by Kupol Kropotkina (Купол Кропоткина), a smaller ice dome. There are three large lakes on the island, including the Utinoye Lake (Duck Lake) and the Ledyanoye Lake (Ice Lake). Dezhnev Bay (Zaliv Dezhneva) lies between the western part of the island and the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. Cape Thomas (Mys Tomasa) is the southernmost headland of the peninsula. Cambridge Channel (Proliv Kambritch) is a wide sound between Alexandra Land and Zemlya Georga. At the southern end this island has two capes pointing southwestwards in its southernmost coast: Cape Lofley and Cape Ludlow. Cape Mary Harmsworth, the cape pointing westwards is the westernmost point of the Franz Josef Archipelago proper. The English explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith, sighted Alexandra Land in 1880, but did not land. He named the area for Alexandra, then Princess of Wales. An alternative account states that the name "Alexandra Land" commemorates Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (1783–1801), who became Archduchess of Austria in 1799 upon her marriage to Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary (1776-1847). The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition led by Frederick Jackson was the first to set foot on Alexandra Land in 1895.