Spitzbergen und Novaja Zemlja, 1894r.

Spitzbergen und Novaja Zemlja, 1894r. - Richard Ritter von Barry

Novaya Zemlya (Russian: Но́вая Земля́, IPA: [ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa], lit. the new land), also known as Nova Zembla (especially in Dutch), is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in northern Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the Northern island. Novaya Zemlya is composed of two islands, the northern Severny Island and the southern Yuzhny Island, which are separated by Matochkin Strait. Administratively, it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya District, one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya Urban Okrug.

Its population as of the 2010 Census was 2,429, of which 1,972 resided in Belushya Guba, an urban-type settlement that is the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District. The population in 2002 was 2,716 (2002 Census).The indigenous population (from 1872 to the 1950s when it was resettled to the mainland) consisted of about 50–300 Nenetses who subsisted mainly on fishing, trapping, reindeer herding, polar bear hunting and seal hunting. Natural resources include copper, lead, and zinc.

Novaya Zemlya was a sensitive military area during the Cold War years and is still in use today. The Soviet Air Force maintained a presence at Rogachevo on the southern part of the island, on the westernmost peninsula (71.61787°N 52.47884°E). It was used primarily for interceptor aircraft operations, but also provided logistical support for the nearby nuclear test area. Novaya Zemlya was the site of one of the two major nuclear test sites managed by the USSR, used for air drops and underground testing of the largest of Soviet nuclear bombs, in particular the October 30, 1961 air burst explosion of Tsar Bomba, the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.