Nordaustlandet
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Arctic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 79°48′N 22°24′E / 79.800°N 22.400°ECoordinates: 79°48′N 22°24′E / 79.800°N 22.400°E |
| Archipelago | Svalbard |
| Area | 14,443 km2 (5,576 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 58th |
| Highest elevation | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
| Highest point | Norddomen |
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Norway
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| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Additional information | |
| 11,009 square kilometres (4,251 sq mi) glaciated. Perimeter 1,688 kilometres (1,049 mi). | |
Nordaustlandet (sometimes translated as North East Land) is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of 14,443 square kilometres (5,576 sq mi). It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopen Strait. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under large ice caps, mainly Austfonna and Vestfonna, the remaining parts of the north being tundra inhabited by reindeer and walruses. The island is uninhabited and lies entirely within Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve.
English walrus hunters first sighted the south point of Nordaustlandet in 1617. This discovery was shown on the Muscovy Company's map (1625; but based on discoveries made in and prior to 1622), with the island labeled as Sir Thomas Smyth's Iland. It also shows the North Cape (Point Purchas). It is first named Oostlandt ("East Land") on a Dutch map of 1662, and the following year another Dutch map marked its coastline more distinctly, showing its west and north coasts, separating the latter from the Seven Islands (Sjuøyane). A Dutch map of 1710 was the first to show the island accurately, naming it Het Noord Ooster Land ("The North-east Land").
The rock types in Nordaustlandet stem from many different geological eras. The northern part consists of old crystalline basement, with rocks such as marble, quartzite, mica schist, gneiss and granite. East of Lady Franklinfjorden, on the peninsula Botniahalvøya and east of Duvefjorden there are volcanic rocks. In the east and south of Rijpfjorden the bedrock is made up of distinctive red-coloured granite. The Rijpfjord granite is medium grained, and contains two micas (muscovite and biotite) in addition to quartz, plagioclase and pink K-feldspar. It was emplaced in late Silurian times.
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