Novaya Zemlya

Understand

As a mountainous archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, Novaya Zemlya is a remote and inhospitable place with harsh weather. Due to its strategic position, it also has a history of use by the Russian (and Soviet) military, including being 1 the site of the 1961 detonation of the Tsar Bomba, which resulted in the most powerful nuclear blast ever produced by humankind. About 80 percent of the population lives in the main town, Belushya Guba.

Getting there

There are two weekly flights between Arkhangelsk and 1 Rogachevo Airport, a military airport (as of October 2020, prices start at 20,930 руб). However, as there is restricted access to Novaya Zemlya, special permission from the Russian government (and perhaps the military itself) would be needed to visit.

Getting around

The temperature is below freezing for much of the year, so travel by boat would of course be impossible, except if you can use an icebreaker. However, from June to September, it is warm enough for ice to melt temporarily, and boating would probably be possible once the ice has melted.

However, practically all of the population in Novaya Zemlya lives in two towns: about 80 percent of it lives in Belushya Guba, and approximately the other 20 percent lives in nearby Rogachovo. There is a five-mile road which connects these two towns, so getting around does not pose a major problem unless you want to go outside of this region.

Go next

Even farther north of Novaya Zemlya is Franz Josef Land. Other islands in the world's Arctic north include Svalbard (administered by Norway) and Ellesmere Island (administered by Canada), and for an even higher latitude, one can visit the North Pole.