Nordvestøyane

Nordvestøyane
Fuglesongen (left) and Klovningen
Waters	Greenland Sea
archipelago	Svalbard
Geographical location	79 ° 50 ′  N , 11 ° 28 ′  E Coordinates: 79 ° 50 ′  N , 11 ° 28 ′  E
Number of islands	5 (and numerous archipelago)
Main island	Fuglesong
Total land area	12 km²
Residents	uninhabited
Map of Albert-I-Land with the Nordvestøyane

The Nordvestøyane ("Northwest Islands ") form a group of islands northwest of the island of Spitsbergen , north of the Vasahalvøya peninsula in Albert-I-Land .

geography

In addition to the five larger islands of Fuglesongen (Vogelsang), Klovningen (Kloven-Kliff), Ytre Norskøya (Outer Norwegian Island), Indre Norskøya (Inner Norwegian Island) and Fugløya (Foul Island) there is a large number of archipelago and rocky islands. The four kilometer wide strait between Fugløya in the south and the other four islands in the north and east is called Fair Haven and has been a popular anchorage since it was discovered by the British navigator Jonas Poole . The navigable strait between Fuglesongen and Klovningen is called Barentsgatt, the one between the two Norwegian islands ( Norskøyane ) Norskøysundet, the one between Indre Norskøya and the island of Spitsbergen Svenskegatt.

Islands

 Map with all coordinates of the section Islands : OSM

island Area (km²) Height m WGS84 - coordinates Fuglesong 4.1 387 79 ° 51 '07.6 "  N , 011 ° 18' 05.2"  O Klovningen 2.2 292 79 ° 51 '24.8 "  N , 011 ° 27' 54.1"  E Ytre Norskøya 1.1 152 79 ° 51 '19.9 "  N , 011 ° 35' 53.0"  E Indre Norskøya 2.1 257 79 ° 50 '28.6 "  N , 011 ° 34' 49.4"  E Fugløya 2.5 380 79 ° 48 '18.2 "  N , 011 ° 20' 44.1"  E Nordvestøyane 12.0 387 79 ° 50 '28.9 "  N , 011 ° 27" 34.5 "  E

Phipps' map of northwest Spitzbergen with Amsterdamøya on the left and Nordvestøyane on the top right

history

The Nordvestøyane belonged to the Dutch whaling area in the 17th century . On Ytre Norskøya you can still find the remains of nine drinking vessels from a whaling station and the graves of 165 whalers. The station was similar in size to that of Smeerenburg on Amsterdamøya .

In July 1773 the British ships Racehorse and Carcass anchored in Fair Haven on their way to the geographic North Pole . Constantine Phipps had to abort his attempt at 80 ° 48 ′ north latitude. One of the oldest maps of Nordvestøyane can be found in his travelogue.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Norwegian fur hunters came to the islands and spent the winter here. There were trapper huts on Indre Norskøya and on the island of Steggholmen.

The islands have been part of the Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park since 1973 .

literature

• The Norwegian Pilot . Volume 7: Sailing Directions Svalbard and Jan Mayen (PDF; 55.0 MB), The Norwegian Hydrographic Service and Norwegian Polar Institute, 3rd edition, Stavanger 2012 (PDF version 3.5, May 2016), ISBN 978-82-90653- 30-4 (English)

Web links

Commons : Islands of Fair Haven, Svalbard  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Nordvestøyane . In: The Place Names of Svalbard (first edition 1942). Norsk Polarinstitutt , Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-90307-82-9 (English, Norwegian).

Individual evidence

1. ^ German names of the islands according to: Reichs-Marine-Amt (Hrsg.): Spitzbergen-Handbuch . ES Mittler, Berlin 1916, p. 211 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ^ Reichs-Marine-Amt (Ed.): Spitzbergen-Handbuch . ES Mittler, Berlin 1916, p. 212 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ^ The Norwegian Pilot . Volume 7: Sailing Directions Svalbard and Jan Mayen , 2012, p. 256 (English).
4. ↑ Øystein Overrein, Jørn Henriksen, Bjørn Fossli Johansen, Kristin Prestvold: Ytre Norskøya (79 ° 50 ′ N 11 ° 30 ′ E) . Cruise Handbook of Svalbard, Norsk Polarinstitutt, accessed January 27, 2017.
5. ^ Constantine John Phipps: A Voyage towards the North Pole Undertaken by His Majesty's Command 1773 . J. Nourse, London 1774, p. 42 .
6. ↑ Gustav Rossnes: Norsk Overvintringsfangst på Svalbard 1895-1940 (PDF; 7.7 MB), Norsk Polarinstitutt, Meddelelser No. 127, Oslo 1993, p. 123ff.