New Siberian Islands

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New Siberian Islands.

The New Siberian Islands (Russian: Новосиби́рские острова) are an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

The New Siberian Islands proper, or Anzhu Islands, covering a land area of about 29,000 km², consist of

Kotelny Island (о. Коте́льный) 11,700 km² and
Faddeyevsky Island (о. Фадде́евский) 5,300 km²
*which are linked by Bunge Land (земля́ Бу́нге) 6,200 km² (occasionally submerged by sea)
Novaya Sibir (о. Но́вая Сиби́рь) 6,200 km²
Belkovsky Island (о. Бельковский) 500 km²

To the south and nearer to the Siberian mainland lie the Lyakhovskiye Islands (6,100 km²):

Great Lyakhovsky Island (о. Большо́й Ля́ховский) 4,600 km²
Little Lyakhovsky Island (о. Ма́лый Ля́ховский) 1,325 km²
Stolbovoy Island (о. Столбово́й) 170 km²
Semyonovsky Island (о. Семёновский) 5km²

The small De Long Islands (228 km²) lie to the north-east of Novaya Sibir:

Jeannette Island (о. Жанне́тты)
Henrietta Island (о. Генрие́тты)
Bennett Island (о. Бе́ннетта)
Vilkitskogo Island (о. Вильки́цкого)
Zhokhova Island (о. Жо́хова)

Most of the archipelago is low-lying and consists of loose sediments. Its western part consists of limestone and slate. The highest altitude is 374 m (Mt. Malakatyn-Tas on Kotelny island). The climate is arctic and severe. Snow cover is present for 9 months of the year.

Average temperature in January: −28°C to −31°C

Temperature in July: At the coasts icy arctic water lets the temperatures stay relatively low. Average maximum temperatures from +8°C to +11°C and average minimum temperatures from -3°C to +1°C.

In the interior of the islands the average maximum temperatures in July are +16°C to +19°C and average minimum temperatures +3°C to +6°C.

Precipitation: up to 132 mm a year

Permafrost and underground ice are very common. The surface of the islands is covered with arctic tundra vegetation and numerous lakes.

The first news about the existence of the New Siberian Islands was brought by a Cossack Yakov Permyakov in the beginning of the 18th century. In 1712, a Cossack unit led by M. Vagin reached the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island. In the beginning of the 19th century, the islands were further explored by Yakov Sannikov, Matvei Gedenschtrom and others.

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