Karl Alexander Island, also known as Zemlya Karla-Alexandra (Земля Карла Александра), is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.

Geography

Karl Alexander Island's length is 29 km and its maximum width is 18 km. Its area is 329 km², but very little of it is ice-free. The highest point on the island is 365 m. The southern section of the island is covered by an ice dome named Kupol Samoylovicha (Купол Самойловича). This island is part of the Zemlya Zichy subgroup of the Franz Joseph Archipelago. It is separated from Rainer Island in the east by a 2.5 km narrow sound and from Jackson Island in the South by a 6 km wide sound. Karl Alexander Island was named by the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition after one of the noblemen that financed the venture, Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. This island should not be confused with Alexandra Land, also in the Franz Josef Archipelago.

Adjacent islands

There are four small islets off Karl Alexander Island's northeastern shores: