Rastorguyev Island

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Location of Rastorguyev Island in the Kara Sea.

Rastorguyeva is located on the lower right side of the map.

Rastorguyev Island or Rastorguyeva Island (Russian: Остров Расторгуева, Ostrov Rastorguyeva), is an island in the Kara Sea located in an area of skerries south of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. Compared to other large islands in the area it has a quite regular shape. Its length is 21 km and its maximum width 6.5 km. It is covered with tundra vegetation in the summer, but most of the year it lies under a shroud of snow.

This island is located 40 km from the western end of the Taymyr Gulf and only 14 km southeast of Taymyr Island. It separated from the nearest coast by a narrow sound that is about one km in width in its narrowest stretch.

The climate in the area is severe, with long and bitter winters and frequent blizzards and gales. The sea surrounding Rastorguyev Island is covered with pack ice in the winter and there are numerous ice floes even in the summer, so that most of the year it is merged with the mainland.

Rastorguyev Island belongs to the Krasnoyarsk Krai administrative division of the Russian Federation and is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve of Russia.

[edit] History

The whole area around Rastorguyev Island was explored by Russian geologist Baron Eduard von Toll during his last venture, the Russian Arctic Expedition of 1900-1903. This large island was named by him after Stepan Innokentyevich Rastorguyev, an Imperial Russian Cossack oficer accompanying him. Rastorguyev helped Baron Eduard von Toll during his explorations in the Siberian coast and Toll never hid the fact that he was grateful for his services.

In 1937 another island, Kolchak Island in the Kamennyye group further westward along the Taymyr Peninsula's coast, was renamed after Stepan Rastorguyev. Thus, for a few decades, there were two "Rastorguyeva" islands in the Kara Sea itself. Fortunately the other island's previous name has been restored on August 23d, 2005, so that now there is less confusion.