Franz Josef Land air bases in the Arctic. A major new base, named the "Arctic Trefoil" for its three lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye. It can maintain 150 soldiers for 18 months and has an area of 14,000 square meters. In 2017, Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the archipelago to protect Russia's interests in the Arctic. The archipelago constitutes the northernmost part of Russia's Arkhangelsk Oblast, located between 79°46′ and 81°52′ north and 44°52′ and 62°25′ east. It is situated north of Novaya Zemlya and east of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Located within the Arctic Ocean, Franz Josef Land constitutes the
History of Franz Josef Land the southern and central parts of the archipelago had been explored. At the time there was a presumption that a large landmass, tentatively called Petermann Land, stretched northwards, possibly all the way to the pole. To the west another landmass was expected, Gillis Land, which it was expected might reach as far as Svalbard. Frederick George Jackson hoped to exploit the previous expeditions' experience with overwintering to launch an expedition to explore the northern parts of the island group. To prepare for the trip, in 1893 he took an expedition to Yugorsky Strait and Vaygach Island, south of Novaya Zemlya.