Fridtjof Nansen Land () was a suggested but not officially adopted Norwegian name of a territory on the southern East Coast of

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, that was proclaimed by

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on July 12, 1932, and occupied until April 5, 1933. It was named after Norwegian polar explorer

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

. The short-lived territory occupied much of

King Frederick VI Coast King Frederick VI Coast () is a major geographic division of Greenland. It comprises the coastal area of Southeastern Greenland in Sermersooq and Kujalleq municipalities fronting the Irminger Sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by King ...

, which had been claimed a century before by the Danish crown. The main settlements of the territory were Finnsbu in the north, with Trollbotn and Vogtsbu nearby, and Torgilsbu in the south. Fridtjof Nansen Land was also a proposed name of the archipelago

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land () is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of , stretching from east ...

, a territory to which Norway had claims.Barr, Susan (1995). ''Franz Josef Land'', p. 95. Oslo: Norwegian Polar Institute.

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