political rights 24 1 



Russian Claims 



Russian claims in the Arctic have not been so precisely set forth. 

 However, in 191 6 Russia notified the Governments of Great Britain, 

 France, the United States and doubtless other countries that it con- 

 sidered various islands near the Arctic coast of the Empire as forming 

 an integral part thereof 7 These included Nicholas II Land and the 

 adjoining smaller islands, Lonely Island, Henrietta Island, Jeannette 

 Island, Novopashennii (Zhokhov) Island, General Vilkitski Island, 

 Bennett Island, the New Siberian Islands, and also, of particu- 

 lar interest in view of recent history, Wrangel Island and Herald 

 Island. It is clear that the British Government now makes no objec- 

 tion to any of these claims. The attempt by Mr. Stefansson to make 

 Wrangel Island British did not receive official support in London; 

 the British have obviously decided to claim no Arctic lands west of 

 141°. The Russians took active steps to end a more recent settlement 

 on Wrangel Island, and since 1926 it has been occupied by a Russian 

 colony. 



Wrangel Island lies about 80 miles from the Siberian coast and 

 is perhaps of some value and habitable. Its early history is summed 

 up by a leading authority as follows: "A Russian heard of it in 1824 

 but never saw it; an Englishman saw it in 1849 but never landed on 

 it; an American landed on it in 1881 and claimed it for the United 

 States." Except for Herald Island, which is a few square miles of 

 barren rock, Wrangel Island is much nearer Alaska than any other 

 island in the Russian Arctic; the United States may be interested in 

 the future of Wrangel Island; but probably no country is concerned 

 with the other Russian claims north of the mainland of Russia and 

 Siberia, so far as they have been disclosed ; they are to be thought of 

 chiefly in their bearing on future air routes. 



Recent dispatches indicate that the present Russian Government 

 is pursuing its rights. It seems that the Soviet Government is making 

 plans for a polar expedition by air to explore the areas directly north 

 of Russian territory, in accordance with a program drafted by Dr. 

 Nansen; and also that an expedition is to be sent to Nicholas II 

 Land (Northern Land), on the 80th parallel and at about 100° east 

 longitude. 



Franz Josef Land 



The only known land in the Arctic which is not now the subject 

 of a positive claim by some government seems to be Franz Josef Land^, 

 a group of islands — uninhabited and of unknown value — lying just 



' The text of the note as delivered in December, 1916, by the Russian Ambassador in Paris to the 

 French Minister of Foreign Affairs is printed in full in La Geographie, Vol. 31, 1916-17, p. 393. Excerpts 

 of the note as delivered in London are published in the Geogr. Journ., Vol. 62, 1923, pp. 442-443. 



8 Before the World War, because of "discovery," it would have been necessary to think of Austria- 

 Hungary as a possible sovereign, but not now. 



