Bear Island (Norway): description, photo

Bear Island is part of a small-sized land in the Barents Sea. It also borders the Norwegian Sea. It is the southern part of the Spitsbergen archipelago. Has an area of 180 square meters. Km. It is territorially owned by Norway.

Hydronym

Its name was not accidental. Until 1596 Europeans did not go far into the Arctic, so the polar bears were not seen. The Dutch expedition, approaching the shores of a previously unknown land in the Barents Sea, saw on the shore a beautiful majestic beast who was trying to climb a ship. It was in honor of this animal that the island got its name - Bear.

When and who discovered the Bear Island?

Discoverers of the island are the Dutch V. Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk. The official date for the discovery of this scrap of land is June 10, 1596. Until then, this area was not inhabited and almost never mentioned in the ancient records of seafarers. After the discovery, the Dutch grounded here a parking lot and for many years developed whaling.

At the end of the XIX century, Norway, on the basis of official documents, included the Spitsbergen archipelago. Bear Island (the Barents Sea), as part of it, also became part of the Kingdom.

Since 2002 this territory has been declared a protected area, any hunting activities are prohibited here and are considered poaching.

About the island (briefly)

According to scientists, the island was formed 400 million years ago. It is located on the border of two seas: from the west the banks are washed by Norwegian, and from the east by the Barents Sea. The coastline is rugged, there are many shallow bays. In the southern and south-eastern part of the island, the relief rises, forming low plateaus. The highest point is Mount Urd (535 m). Bear Island on the northern outskirts is represented by a low plain, over which a large number of small rivers flow. There are many lakes and streams here. They are all of glacial origin. The predominant natural zones are the forest-tundra and tundra.

Climate

Bear Island belongs to the arctic climatic zone. The weather conditions here are unfavorable for permanent residence. On the island, high relative humidity, a large number of annual precipitation (up to 2000 mm), which fall to the ground in the form of rain, drizzle and fog. In winter, precipitation practically ceases, and therefore there is no permanent snow cover. The average temperature in January is -18 ... -15 ° С, in July - +10 ° С.

Flora and fauna

The animal and plant world of the island is characteristic of the tundra. The most common types of vegetation are mosses, lichens and shrubs. From animals here you can find arctic fox, sea hare, seal. But polar bears are not such a frequent phenomenon. There are a small number of them. In coastal waters, rivers and lakes, many fish of commercial species are found.

Population

Bear Island is not permanently inhabited. Only periodically there are justified expeditions for a certain period of time. Basically, these are environmental organizations that deal with the study of environmental problems, as well as workers in weather stations.