Severny Island Severny Island Severny Island () is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying approximately 400 km north of the Russian mainland. It has an area of , making it the 30th-largest island in the world. It is part of Russian Arctic National Park. Severny Island is separated from Yuzhny Island ("Southern") by the narrow Matochkin Strait. Forty percent of the island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap, which is the largest glacier by area and by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it). Severny Island is known for its numerous glaciers. Cape Flissingsky is
History of Franz Josef Land and Karl Weyprecht of Austria–Hungary on board the schooner "Tegetthoff", this expedition's primary goal was to find the north-east passage with the secondary goal of locating the North Pole. The ship left Tromsø, Norway, in July 1872 but by August had become locked in pack ice north of Novaya Zemlya. The vessel drifted and eventually reached a hitherto unknown archipelago, which they named in honor of Franz Joseph I (1830–1916), Emperor of Austria. In May 1874 Wayprecht decided that the crew of twenty-four should abandon the ice-bound ship. On August 16 they reached land at Novaya Zemlya. They followed the