Geography of Franz Josef Land Geography of Franz Josef Land The Geography of Franz Josef Land refers to an island group belonging to Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia. It is situated in the Barents Sea of the Arctic, north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard. At latitudes between 80.0° and 81.9° north, it is the most northerly group of islands associated with Eurasia. The extreme northernmost point is Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island. The archipelago consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a total area of . It is currently uninhabited. The archipelago is only from the North Pole, and the northernmost islands are closer to
Severnaya Zemlya to a survey of prior observations by De Korte, Volkov, and Gavrilo, thirty-two bird species have been observed on Severnaya Zemlya, 17 of which are known to breed on the islands. Eight species are widespread across the archipelago: five of which are colonial seabirds: little auk ("Alle alle"), black-legged kittiwake ("Rissa tridactyla"), black guillemot ("Cepphus grylle"), ivory gull ("Pagophila eburnea"), and glaucous gull ("Larus hyperboreus"); and three species of tundra bird: the snow bunting ("Plectrophenax nivalis"), purple sandpiper ("Calidris maritima"), and brent goose ("Branta bernicla"). The most common mammal on Severnaya Zemlya is the collared lemming ("Dicrostonyx torquatus"), also known