King Frederik VIII Land (; ) is a major geographic division of northeastern

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 ...

. It extends above the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

from 76°N to 81°N in a North-South direction along the coast of the

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea ( Danish: ''Grønlandshavet'') is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Gre ...

History

This vast desolate region was still uncharted territory around 1900. It was explored by the 1906–08

Denmark Expedition The Denmark expedition (), also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast and the Danmark Expedition after the ship's name, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland in 1906–1908. Despite being overshadowed by the dea ...

, the 1909–12 Alabama Expedition and by J.P. Koch's 1912–13

Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land The Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land, also known as the Danish expedition to Queen Louise Land and straight through Greenland’s ice sheet (), as well as Danish North Greenland Expedition, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland and a ...

, when the ruling monarch was Frederik VIII (1843–1912). The area between 79° and 81°30´N was first marked as 'King Frederik VIII Land', after King

Frederik VIII of Denmark Frederik VIII (; 3 June 1843 – 14 May 1912) was King of Denmark from 29 January 1906 until his death in 1912. As the eldest son of King Christian IX, nicknamed the '' Father-in-law of Europe'', Frederick was related to royalty throughout E ...

then the ruling monarch, by the 1906–08 Denmark Expedition in its maps of the region.

Einar Storgaard Einar is a Scandinavian given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr, which according to Guðbrandur Vigfússon is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, warriors who died in battle and ascended to Valhalla in Norse mythology ...

used the name again in a 1927 map, and he also proposed a division of the region into a northern and a southern part with a border along Nioghalvfjerd Fjord. Finally the name came into general usage only after the publication of the 1931–34 Three-year Expedition to East Greenland ''(Treårsekspedition)'' reports.

Geography

King Frederik VIII Land stretches between 76°N along the middle of the

Bessel Fjord Bessel Fjord is a fjord in northeastern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the NE Greenland National Park area. History The area around the mouth of this fjord was referred to as "Bessel Bay" at the time of the 1869–70 Second German Nor ...

in the south and 81°N, the boundary running along the middle of the

Independence Fjord Independence Fjord or Independence Sound is a large fjord or sound in the eastern part of northern Greenland. It is about long and up to wide. Its mouth, opening to the Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean is located at . In the area around Indepen ...

and the Academy Glacier. It is bordered by

King Christian X Land King Christian X Land (; ) is an area of northeastern Greenland. History This area was named after King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland (). At the time of the Three-year Expedition to East Greenland, it is reported that, when Lauge Koch w ...

on the south, the

Wandel Sea The Wandel Sea (; also known as McKinley Sea) is a body of water in the Greenland Sea, stretching from northeast of Greenland to Svalbard. It is obstructed by ice most of the year. This sea is named after Danish polar explorer and hydrographer, ...

to the north,

Peary Land Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the nor ...

to the northwest, and the

Greenland Ice Sheet The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of thick and over thick at its maximum. It is almost long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of at a latitude ...

to the west. All its territory is included in the large

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park (, ) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas consist mostly of sea). Established in 1974, the Northeast Greenland national park expanded to its p ...

zone. King Frederik VIII Land includes mountain ranges, such as the Princess Caroline-Mathilde Alps,

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...

s, such as

Queen Louise Land Queen Louise Land (; ) is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederik VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone. The highest point of Queen Louise Land i ...

, and vast

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

expanses, such as the

Storstrømmen Storstrømmen (; lit. ''The Great Stream'') is a strait in Denmark separating the island Falster from the island Zealand. Geography Its maximum depth is approximately and the length is around . Smålandsfarvandet sound is situated to the ...

, the Zachariæ Isstrøm and the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae of far northeastern Greenland. In the areas of the shore it also includes

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

s, such as the

Skaer Fjord Skaer Fjord (, meaning "Reef Fjord"), is a fjord in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. History Skaerfjorden was named by the 1906–1908 Denmark expedition, which named it thus owing to the numerous reefs and skerries in it. It had ...

, the Ingolf Fjord and the Borg Fjord in

Dove Bay Dove Bay () is a bay in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. It is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park area. Etymology Dove bay is said to have been the legendary ''Breidifjòrdr'' of the Sagas of Icelanders. It was named ...

, as well as numerous coastal islands, such as Hovgaard Island in the shore of the

Princess Thyra Island Princess Thyra Island () is an uninhabited island of the Wandel Sea, Greenland. The island is within King Frederick VIII Land in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The island was named after Princess Thyra of Denmark. Geography This island ...

in the Wandel Sea. The Greenland ice sheet reaches the shore at Jøkel Bay. Flade Isblink, the largest independent

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description By definition, ice caps are not constrained by topogra ...

in Greenland is also located in King Frederik VIII Land. The area of King Frederik VIII Land is practically uninhabited. Currently the only two inhabited places are: *

Danmarkshavn Danmarkshavn (Denmark's Harbour) is a small weather station located in Dove Bay, on the northeastern shore of the Germania Land Peninsula, in Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland. History The location was chosen as a suitable winter harb ...

weather station is on the southern shore of the

Germania Land Germania Land or Germanialand is a peninsula in northeastern Greenland. Despite the high latitude it is largely unglaciated. History This peninsula was named by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, leader of the Danmark expedition, to commemorate its survey b ...

Peninsula.Danmarkshavn
/ref> It was named by the 1906–08 Denmark Expedition after 'Danmark', the ship of the expedition which wintered there. *

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

, a Danish

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

located further north in the

Crown Prince Christian Land Crown Prince Christian Land () is a large peninsula in northern Greenland. It is a part of King Frederick VIII Land and administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park. It was named after Crown Prince Christian, later Christia ...

Peninsula.

Image gallery

References

{{reflist Geography of Greenland

History

Geography

Image gallery

See also

References