Sjuøyane is the northernmost part of the Svalbard

Svalbard

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...

 archipelago, just north of Nordaustlandet

Nordaustlandet

Nordaustlandet is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopenstretet. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under large ice caps, mainly Austfonna and Vestfonna, the remaining parts of the north being tundra...

. As the name implies, this is a group of seven islands (as well as several islets and skerries), although three are mere islets. The principal islands are Phippsøya

Phippsøya

Phippsøya is the largest island in Sjuøyane, an island group north of Nordaustlandet.The island is named after the English explorer Constantine John Phipps, who commanded two bomb vessels, and , on an expedition to Svalbard in 1773.-References:...

, Parryøya

Parryøya

Parryøya is southernmost of the three large islands in Sjuøyane, north of Nordaustlandet.The island was named after the English explorer William Edward Parry, who visited Spitsbergen during his 1827 expedition to reach the North Pole.-References:...

, Martensøya

Martensøya

Martensøya is the easternmost island of Sjuøyane, which lies north of Nordaustlandet, part of the Svalbard archipelago. The island is named after the German physician Friderich Martens, who visited Spitsbergen in 1671. -References:...

, Nelsonøya

Nelsonøya

Nelsonøya is a small island, part of Sjuøyane, north of Nordaustlandet.The island is named after Horatio Nelson, who served as midshipman aboard , under Captain Skeffington Lutwidge. The Carcass was one of the two bomb vessels sent under the command of Constantine John Phipps to Svalbard in...

 and Waldenøya

Waldenøya

Waldenøya is a small, rocky island just north of Nordkapp, Nordaustlandet. It is part of Sjuøyane.The island is named after John Walden, who was a midshipman aboard the Hon. Constantine John Phipps' in 1773. Walden, along with two pilots, visited the island on August 5 of the same...

, the islets are Tavleøya

Tavleøya

Tavleøya is one of Sjuøyane, north of Nordaustlandet. The island lies south of Vesle Tavleøya and about 1 km west of the northern point of Phippsøya.-References:*Norwegian Polar Institute...

, Vesle Tavleøya

Vesle Tavleøya

Vesle Tavleøya is the largest island of the two northernmost of Sjuøyane, north of Nordaustlandet.-References:* Norwegian Polar Institute...

 and Rossøya

Rossøya

Rossøya, sometimes referred to as Ross Island in English, is an island located in the Barents Sea. It is a part of Sjuøyane, a group of islands in the Svalbard archipelago, just north of the coast of Nordaustlandet. Rossøya is located just north-west of the slightly larger island Vesle Tavleøya...

. Rossøya, more a skerry than an island, is in 80°49’44" the northernmost land of Svalbard and thus of Norway. Ice conditions are often difficult, but they are often earlier accessible than other parts of Svalbard further southeast because of the influence of the last drops of the Gulf Stream. Sjuøyane belong to the Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve.

History

Sjuøyane were first marked on a map by the Dutchman Hendrick Doncker (1663). Pieter Goos (1666) and other cartographers soon followed. Cornelis Giles and Outger Rep (c. 1710) were the first to put the islands in their correct position. The islands may have been sighted as early as 1618, as an Enkhuizen

Enkhuizen

Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...

whaler is said to have seen the islands this year. As map-makers often lagged years behind the actual discoveries of the archipelago, this claim may very well be true, although evidence is lacking.