Severny Island is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...

 archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

, lying north of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It has an area of 48904 square kilometres (18,881.9 sq mi), making it one of the largest islands in the world. It is separated from Yuzhny Island

Yuzhny Island

Yuzhny is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the largest islands in the world.-Ecology:...

 by the narrow Matochkin Strait

Matochkin Strait

Matochkin Strait or Matochkin Shar is a strait between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. The banks along the strait are high and steep. Its length is approximately and its width in its narrowest part is approximately . The strait is...

. 40% of island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap

Severny Island ice cap

Severny Island ice cap is a glacier on Severny Island, northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia. It covers 40% of Severny Island at total area of about which makes it the largest glacier by area in Europe easily beating second ranking Austfonna at and third ranking Vatnajökull...

 which is the largest glaciers by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it).

Sukhoy Nos

Sukhoy Nos

Sukhoy Nos is a cape on Severny, the northern island of the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, belonging to the Russian Federation. The site lies near the southern end of the island, very close to the Matochkin Strait, which separates Severny from Yuzhny, the southern island...

 cape, located at the southern end of the island, was used for nuclear weapons testing between 1958–1961.

Severny Island is also known for its numerous glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

s.

Severny is now the site of a Russian Army

Russian Ground Forces

The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...

 base and has a harbour.

There is a Meteorological Station at Cape Zhelaniya

Cape Zhelaniya

Cape Zhelaniya . It lies at the northern end of Severny Island, in Novaya Zemlya, Russia. The whole area is a desolate place, exposed to bitter Arctic winters....

, Severny's northernmost cape.

Cape Flissingsky the easternmost point of Severny Island.