Qvale Island

Qvale Island
Native name: <span class="nickname" ">Qvaleøya
Qvale Island
Location in Svalbard
Geography
Coordinates 78°55′53″N 21°25′55″E / 78.93133°N 21.43205°E / 78.93133; 21.43205Coordinates: 78°55′53″N 21°25′55″E / 78.93133°N 21.43205°E / 78.93133; 21.43205
Administration
Norway

Qvale Island[1] (Norwegian: Qvaleøya,[2] in older sources Onale Island[2][3][4]) is one of the Rønnbeck Islands in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies northeast of Cape Weyprecht on Spitsbergen. The island is a low basalt cliff and its highest point is only 16 meters (52 ft) above sea level. The closest neighboring islands are Carlsen Island about 350 meters (1,150 ft) to the east and Skipper Island about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mi) to the west. The wildlife consists largely of polar bears.

The island is named after Per Pedersen Qvale (a.k.a. Kvale, 1822–1912), a Norwegian seal hunter born in Kinsarvik.[2][5]

References

  1. ↑ National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: Geographical Names.
  2. 1 2 3 Stadnamn i norske polarområde: Qvaleøya (Svalbard).
  3. ↑ Rüdiger, Herman. 1898. General Account of the Progress of the Expedition to the European Arctic Ocean aboard the Steamer Helgoland. Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, Verhandlungen 25(8/9):430–448.
  4. ↑ Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Official Standard Names Approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. 1963. Washington, DC: Office of Geography, p. 960.
  5. ↑ The Place Names of Svalbard. 2003. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute, p. 350.
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