NOVAYA ZEMLYA. An Arctic land off the coast of European Russia, to which it belongs, consists of two large islands separated by a narrow winding channel 56 m. long, the Matoch kin Shar. It lies between 70° 31' and 77° N., and between 51° 35' and 69° 2' E. and forms an elongated crescent, being nearly 600 m. long with a width of 3o to 90 m., and an area of about 30,00o sq. miles. It separates the Barents sea on the west from the Kara sea on the east. With Vaigach island 3o m. to the south, and the mainland, Novaya Zemlya forms a continuation of the Pai-Khoi hills, a branch of the Ural folds.
The greatest heights occur in the neck of the south islands where near Matochkin Shar are altitudes of about 4,00o ft. In the middle part of the south island there are few elevations over 1,400 ft., but in the south the summits rise to over 2,000 ft. The north island seldom rises to greater altitudes than 3,000 ft.
In the ice-free areas there are foxes, lemmings, bears, reindeer and an occasional wolf. Insects are numerous near the coast. Countless birds come from the south for the breeding season, and at certain parts of the sea-coast the rocks are covered with millions of guillemots, while great flocks of ducks of various sorts, geese and swans swarm every summer on the valleys and lakes of the south. Whales, walruses and various seals are frequently seen. The goltzy occurs in the rivers.
The numbers of sea mammals and birds attracted Russian hunters, and even in the 16th century they had extended their huts (stanovishtcha) to the extreme north of the island. Many of them wintered for years on Novaya Zemlya. Owing to the ice in the White sea Russian hunters found Novaya Zemlya less easy of access than did the Norwegians. But about 1877 syste matic attempts at settlement were begun by the Russian Govern ment, several families of Samoyedes being established at stations on the west coast of the south island, including Karmakul on Moller bay, Pomorskaya bay and Byeloshya bay. There is a Rus
sian observatory on Matochkin Shar.
History.—Novaya Zemlya was probably known to Novgorod hunters in the 1 i th century and to Norse hunters a century earlier. In 1553 Sir Hugh Willoughby may have sighted Goose land. In 1556 Stephen Borough reached the south extremity of the Novaya Zemlya, being the first western European to do so. William Barents touched the island at Sukhoi Nos and followed the coast north to the Orange islands and south to the Kostin Shar. In 1596, after his discovery of Spitsbergen, Barents wintered at Ice haven in 76° i 2' N. (see ARCTIC RE GIONS). Rumours of silver ore led the Russian Government to send out expeditions. In 1760 Savva Loshkin cruised along the east coast, spent two winters there, and in the next year returned along the west coast, thus accomplishing the first circumnaviga tion; but the records of his voyage have been lost. In 1768 Lieut. Rozmyslov explored Matochkin Shar, where he spent the winter. The first scientific information about the island is due to the expeditions (1821-24) of Liitke (1797-1882) after whom part of the north island is named Liitkeland. Nearly all the west coast as far as Cape Nassau, as well as Matochkin Shar, was mapped, and valuable scientific information obtained. In 1832 and 1835 Lieut. Pakhtusov mapped the east coast as far as 24'. The work of Karl von Baer in 1837 was untrustworthy. In 1870 the Norwegian, Capt. L. E. H. Johannesen, accomplished the second circumnavigation of Novaya Zemlya and in 1871 E. Carlsen found Barents's winter hut. In 1878 M. Grinevetskiy crossed the south island. Among later expeditions may be mentioned those of C. Nossilov (1887-92), T. N. Chernychev (1895), who made a crossing of the S. island, H. J. Pearson (1895 and 1897), A. A. Borisov (1899 and 1900) 0. Ekstam (1900 and 1903), W. Rus sanov (1908), who crossed the south of the island, Pavlov and Weise (1912) of the Sedov expedition, who crossed the north island (see ARCTIC), as did 0. Holtedahl (1921). P. V. Vittenburg explored the south island in 1925.