Russian Arctic islands
The Russian Arctic islands are a number of islands groups and sole islands scattered around the Arctic Ocean. Geography. The islands are all situated within the Arctic Circle and are scattered through the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, namely, the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea. The area extends some from Karelia in the west to the Chukchi Peninsula in the east. The largest of the Arctic islands is Severny Island, with an area of about . It is Russia's second largest island next to Sakhalin Island, and  the fourth largest island in Europe. History. The Russian Empire officially claimed the Arctic islands to its north in a Note of the Russian Government of 20 September 1916 - this covered the islands of Henrietta, Jeannette, Bennett, Herald, Edinenie, New Siberia, Wrangel, Novaya Zemlya, Kolguev, Vaigach and others. On 15 April 1926, the Soviet Union reaffirmed this claim. Islands. The area includes from west to east: