Bjørnøya


Bjørnøya

(byörn`öyä), island, 69 sq mi (179 sq km), in the Barents Sea, c.275 mi (440 km) N of Norway; southernmost island of SvalbardSvalbard
, archipelago (23,958 sq mi/62,051 sq km), island group (2015 est. pop. 2,700), possession of Norway, located in the Arctic Ocean, c.400 mi (640 km) N of the Norwegian mainland and between lat. 74°N and 81°N.
..... Click the link for more information.
. It rises to 1,759 ft (536 m). There are polar fox and polar bear on the island. Probably known to Norsemen in the 12th cent., it was rediscovered by Willem BarentzBarentz or Barents, Willem
, d. 1597, Dutch navigator. He made three voyages (1594, 1595, 1596–97) in search of the Northeast Passage to Asia. He reached Novaya Zemlya on the first two expeditions.
..... Click the link for more information.
, the Dutch navigator, in 1596, and was formally annexed by Norway in 1915. It is also known as Bear Island.