The 1930 Bratvaag Expedition was the last Western European presence on the islands until 1990, except for an undetected German weather station on Alexandra Land during World War II. A 1929 Norwegian attempt to establish a base failed. Norway and Italy protested, and Norwegian sealers continued to operate in the surrounding waters for several years. Russia claimed sovereignty over the archipelago in 1914, and the Soviet Union formally annexed the islands on 15 April 1926, making it part of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Russian expeditions, starting with the icebreaker Yrmark in 1901, began visiting the area and conducted increasing amounts of scientific research alongside their exploration activities. Although often poorly organized and unsuccessful at reaching their ultimate goal, these expeditions further explored the islands. The first, carried out by Walter Wellman in 1898, was followed the next year by the voyage of the Stella Polare then from 1901 to 1905 the Ziegler Polar Expedition took place. The next series of expeditions used the archipelago as a base for attempts to reach the North Pole. These two journeys explored the northern area and the flanks of Franz Josef Land. Concurrent expeditions followed in 1896, Nansen's Fram expedition and the Jackson–Harmsworth Expedition, which met by accident. Benjamin Leigh Smith led the next expedition in 1880, which continued the work of the first expeditions in investigating the southern and central parts of the archipelago. However, the discovery was never announced and the existence of the territory only came to public notice following the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition of 1872, which named the archipelago in honor of Franz Joseph I of Austria. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.įind sources: "History of Franz Josef Land" – news įranz Josef Land, an uninhabited archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea and Kara Sea, may have been discovered by the 1865 expedition of the Norwegian sealing vessel Spidsbergen captained by Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Other countries, including the United States, China, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, have also been looking to increase their activities in the Arctic.This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. ![]() In March 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Arctic archipelago, saying he had ordered the government to step up development of the region and calling for "large infrastructure projects, including exploration and development of the Arctic shelf." Russia has beefed up its military presence in the Arctic region, modernizing its Northern Fleet and reopening bases that were abandoned following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Arctic region has gained importance in recent years as rising temperatures have made the waters navigable for longer periods and because of the vast reserves of natural gas and minerals. Russian-owned Franz Josef Land is an archipelago of some 192 islands inhabited only by military personnel. The expedition to confirm the existence of the islands began on August 15 and is expected to run through the end of September. It added that the islands were first sighted during an analysis of satellite photos three years ago.
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