Medvyezhi Islands

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The Medvyezhi Islands or Bear Islands (Russian: Медвежьи острова) is an uninhabited group of islands covered with tundra vegetation. It is located in the East Siberian Sea coastal region about 100 Km to the north of the mouths of the Kolyma River. The coast of Siberia is about 35 Km to the SW of the largest island, which is about 15 Km long. The latitude of this island group is 70° 51' N and the longitude 161° 32’ E.

The sea surrounding the Medvyezhi Islands is covered with fast ice in the winter and the climate is severe. The surrounding sea is obstructed by pack ice even in the summer months. There is commercial fishing in the area of the Medvezhi Islands during the summer^[1].

On September 3d 1878, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld recorded that he sailed close to the Bear Islands in the steamship Vega. This was during the famous expedition that made the whole length of the Northeast passage for the first time in history.

This island group belongs to the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

These islands should not be confused with Bear Island, which is an arctic island of Norway south of Svalbard. There are also a further two small Russian islands called Ostrova Medvezh'i in the Kara Sea off Dikson and off the southern tip of Novaya Zemlya respectively. Besides those, there are quite a number of islets in the White Sea, in the Baltic and in lakes and rivers in different parts of Russia called Ostrov Medvezh'i.