Heiberg Islands

The Heiberg Islands (Russian Острова Гейберга; Острова Акселя Гейберга, Ostrowa Geiberga ) are a group of islands in the Kara Sea off the north coast of Russia. The four uninhabited islands are located at the eastern entrance of the Wilkizkistraße, 35 to 45 km from the mainland. Administratively, the island group belongs to the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The group got its name during the Fram expedition by Fridtjof Nansen as thanks to the Norwegian businessman Axel Heiberg, one of the private financiers of the trip.

The islands are part of the nature reserve Large Arctic Sapowednik. They are home to a breeding colony of the rare Ivory Gull.

On the eastern island of the group ( Остров Восточныӣ ) a meteorological station was set up in 1940 to facilitate the navigation of the Northeast Passage. After the end of the Soviet Union, the station was abandoned and forfeited today.

The individual islands from north to south: