{{Short description|Russian island in the Arctic Ocean}} {{distinguish|Wrangell Island}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}} {{Infobox islands |name = Wrangel Island |image = Низкая облачность над Сомнительными горами.jpg |image_caption = Wrangel Island in October 2018 |map_image = Chukchi Sea map.png |map_caption = Wrangel Island (just left of centre) |image_flag = |flag_alt = |image_shield = |native_name = {{unbulleted list|{{native name|ru|Остров Врангеля|italics=off}}|{{native name|ckt|Умӄиԓир|italics=off}}}} |native_name_link = |sobriquet = |location = Near Chukchi Sea |coordinates = {{Coord|71|14|N|179|25|W|type:isle_scale:2500000|display=inline,title}} |archipelago = |total_islands = |major_islands = |area_km2 = 7600 |area_footnotes = |rank = |length_km = |length_footnotes = |width_km = |width_footnotes = |coastline_km = |highest_mount = Soviet Mountain |elevation_m = 1096 |country = Russia |country_admin_divisions_title = Federal District |country_admin_divisions = Far Eastern |country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Autonomous Okrug |country_admin_divisions_1 = Chukotka |population = 0 |population_as_of = |density_km2 = |module = {{designation list | embed=yes |designation1 = WHS |designation1_offname = Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve |designation1_date = 2004 <small>(28th session)</small> |designation1_type = Natural |designation1_criteria = ix, x |designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1023rev 1023rev] |designation1_free1name = Region |designation1_free1value = Asia }} |website = }}
thumb|Map of Wrangel Island '''Wrangel Island''' ({{langx|ru|О́стров Вра́нгеля|Ostrov Vrangelya}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə|IPA}}; {{langx|ckt|Умӄиԓир|translit=Umqiḷir}}, {{IPA|ckt|umqiɬir|IPA}}, {{lit|island of polar bears}})<ref>{{Cite book | title = Топономический словарь Северо-Востока СССР | first1 = Владилен Вячеславович | last1 = Леонтьев | first2 = Клавдия Александровна | last2 = Новикова | editor-first = Георгий Алексеевич | editor-last = Меновщиков | pages = 108, 384 | location = Magadan | publisher = Магаданское книжное издательство | year = 1989 | language = Russian | isbn = 5-7581-0044-7}}</ref> is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 92nd-largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete. Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea, the island lies astride the 180th meridian. The International Date Line is therefore displaced eastwards at this latitude to keep the island, as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland, on the same day as the rest of Russia. The closest land to Wrangel Island is the tiny and rocky Herald Island located {{convert|60|km|nmi}} to the east.<ref name=kosko1>Kosko, M.K., M.P. Cecile, J.C. Harrison, V.G. Ganelin, N.V., Khandoshko, and B.G. Lopatin, 1993, [http://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/gsc/bulletins/461.pdf Geology of Wrangel Island, Between Chukchi and East Siberian Seas, Northeastern Russia.] Bulletin 461, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa Ontario, 101 pp.</ref> Its straddling the 180th meridian makes its north shore at that point both the northeasternmost and northwesternmost point of land in the world by strict longitude; using the International Date Line instead, those respective points become Herald Island and Alaska's Cape Lisburne.
Most of Wrangel Island, with the adjacent Herald Island, is a federally protected nature sanctuary administered by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In 1976, Wrangel Island and all of its surrounding waters were classified as a "zapovednik" (a "strict nature reserve") and, as such, receive the highest level of protection, excluding virtually all human activity other than conservation research and scientific purposes. In 1999, the Chukotka Regional government extended the protected marine area to {{cvt|24|nmi|km}} offshore. As of 2003, there were four rangers who reside on the island year-round, while a core group of about 12 scientists conduct research during the summer months. Wrangel Island was home to the last generally accepted surviving population of woolly mammoths, with radiocarbon dating suggesting they persisted on the island until around 4,000 years ago.
The natural complex of the Wrangel Island Reserve has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2004.
==Toponymy== Captain Thomas Long named Wrangel Island after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, who was a Baltic German explorer and Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. Captain Long, published in ''The Honolulu Advertiser'', November 1867: {{Blockquote |text=I have named this northern land Wrangell Land as an appropriate tribute to the memory of a man who spent three consecutive years north of latitude 68°, and demonstrated the problem of this open polar sea forty-five years ago, although others of much later date have endeavored to claim the merit of this discovery.<ref>Text by Captain Long published in The Honolulu Advertiser, November 1867</ref>}}
Baron von Wrangel never managed to visit the island. Wrangel had noticed swarms of birds flying north, and, questioning the native population, determined that there must be an island undiscovered by Europeans existing in the Arctic Ocean. He searched for it during his Kolymskaya expedition (1823–1824), but failed to find it.
==Geography== Wrangel Island is about {{convert|150|km|abbr=on}} long from east to west and {{convert|80|km|abbr=on}} wide from north to south, with an area of {{convert|7600|km2|abbr=on}}. It is separated from the Siberian mainland by the De Long Strait, and the island itself is a landmark separating the East Siberian Sea from the Chukchi Sea on the northern end. The distance to the closest point on the mainland is {{convert|140|km|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Vartanyan2>{{Cite journal | title = Radiocarbon Dating Evidence for Mammoths on Wrangel Island, Arctic Ocean, until 2000 BC | first1 = S.L. | last1 = Vartanyan | first2 = Kh. A. | last2 = Arslanov | first3 = T. V. | last3 = Tertychnaya | first4 = S. B. | last4 = Chernov | journal = Radiocarbon | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–6 | year = 1995 | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200014703 | bibcode = 1995Radcb..37....1V | doi-access = free }}</ref>
The island's topography consists of a southern coastal plain that is on average {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}} wide; a {{convert|40|km|abbr=on}} wide east-west trending central belt of low-relief mountains, with the highest elevations at the Tsentral'nye Mountain Range; and a roughly {{convert|25|km|abbr=on}} wide northern coastal plain. The highest mountain on this island is Gora Sovetskaya with an elevation of {{convert|1096|m|abbr=on}} above mean sea level, although mostly the mountains are a little over {{convert|500|m|abbr=on}} above mean sea level. The island's mountain ranges terminate at sea cliffs at either end of the island.<ref name=kosko1/> Blossom Point is the westernmost point and Waring Point ''(Mys Uering)'' the easternmost point of the island. Despite its mountainous terrain and high latitude, Wrangel Island is not glaciated.
Wrangel Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. The island has a weather station at Blossom Point and, formerly, two Chukchi fishing settlements on the southern side of the island (Ushakovskoye<ref name=kosko1/> and Zvyozdny on the shore of Somnitelnaya Bay<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mnr.gov.ru/old_site/part/?pid=887|title=Ministry of Natural Resources of the russian Federation – History of Wrangel Island|access-date=August 27, 2020|archive-date=February 27, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050227080916/http://www.mnr.gov.ru/old_site/part/?pid=887}}</ref>).
==Geology== [[File:Wrangelisland.jpg|thumb|left|True colour MODIS photograph of Wrangel Island, taken in June 2001. Chaunskaya Bay is visible towards the bottom of the image]]
Wrangel Island consists of folded, faulted, and metamorphosed volcanic, intrusive, and sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Upper Precambrian to Lower Mesozoic. The Precambrian rocks, which are about {{convert|2|km|ft|abbr=on}} thick, consist of Upper Proterozoic sericite and chlorite slate and schist that contain minor amounts of metavolcanic rocks, metaconglomerates, and quartzite. These rocks are intruded by metamorphosed gabbro, diabase, and felsic dikes and sills and granite intrusions. Overlying the Precambrian strata are up to {{convert|2.25|km|ft|abbr=on}} of Upper Silurian to Lower Carboniferous consisting of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, slate, argillite, some conglomerate and rare limestone and dolomite. These strata are overlain by up to {{convert|2.15|km|ft|abbr=on}} of Carboniferous to Permian limestone, often composed largely of crinoid plates, that is interbedded with slate, argillite and locally minor amounts of thick breccia, sandstone, and chert. The uppermost stratum consists of {{convert|0.7|to|1.5|km|ft|abbr=on}} of Triassic clayey quartzose turbidites interbedded with black slate and siltstone.<ref name=kosko1/>
A thin veneer of Cenozoic gravel, sand, clay and mud underlie the coastal plains of Wrangel Island. Late Neogene clay and gravel, which are only a few tens of meters thick, rest upon the eroded surface of the folded and faulted strata that compose Wrangel Island. Indurated Pliocene mud and gravel, which are only a few meters thick, overlie the Late Neogene sediments. Sandy Pleistocene sediments occur as fluvial sediments along rivers and streams and as a very thin and patchy surficial layer of either colluvium or eluvium.<ref name=kosko1/><gallery mode="nolines" caption="Wrangel Island coastline"> File:2010-10-07 21-07-15 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 20-26-46 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 19-27-34 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 21-11-41 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 21-20-34 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 21-19-02Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 19-19-31 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:2010-10-07 20-08-15 Wrangel Boris.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast File:Wrangel sunrise.jpg|alt=Wrangel Island Coast </gallery>
==Flora and fauna== [[File:Нежданные гости.jpg|thumb|Polar bear on Wrangel Island]]
Wrangel Island is a breeding ground for polar bears having the highest density of dens in the world<ref>{{Cite book|title=Habitat Conservation Strategy for Polar Bears in Alaska|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Habitat_Conservation_Strategy_for_Polar/ESElAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wrangel+island+highest+density+of+dens&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|date=1995|language=en|first=U. S. Fish and Wildlife|last=Service}}</ref>, bearded and ringed seals, walrus, as well as collared and west and east Siberian lemmings are a major food source for terrestrial carnivores, namely the Arctic foxes, wolverines and wolves which also inhabit the island. Cetaceans, such as Arctic bowhead whales, migratory gray whales and belugas can be seen close to shore.
Woolly mammoths survived on the island until around 2500–2000 BC (4,500–4,000 years ago), the most recent survival of any known mammoth populations; for perspective, these mammoths were living during the times of ancient Bronze Age civilizations, such as Sumer, Elam and the Indus Valley. This was also the time of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt.<ref name=WoollyMammothLastStand>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/science/woolly-mammoth-extinct-genetics.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article |title=The Woolly Mammoth's Last Stand |last=Wade |first=Nicolas |work=The New York Times |date=March 2, 2017 |quote=In a remote, mist-wrapped island north of the eastern tip of Siberia, a small group of woolly mammoths became the last survivors of their once thriving species. |access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref><ref name=Vartanyan2/><ref name=dating98/><ref name=distrib05/> Mammoths, apparently, died out and subsequently disappeared from mainland Eurasia and North America around 10,000 years ago; however, about 500–1,000 mammoths were isolated on Wrangel Island and thus continued to survive for another 6,000 years.<ref name=bbc120323>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17457561 | title = Mammoths' extinction not due to inbreeding, study finds | first = Dhruti | last = Shah | work = BBC News | date = February 25, 2021 }}</ref>
Domestic reindeer were introduced in the 1950s, and their feral numbers are managed at around 1,000 in an effort to reduce their impact on nesting bird grounds. In 1975, musk oxen were also introduced, with a population that has grown from 20 to about 1,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eng.ostrovwrangelya.org/nature.html|title=State Nature Reserve -Wrangel Island – Peculiarities of the Nature Reserve|website=eng.ostrovwrangelya.org}}</ref> In 2002, wolves were spotted on the island; wolves had been present on the island in ancient times.<ref name=":2">[https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1023rev.pdf Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve Chukotka, Russian Federation], United Nations Environment Program, World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 7 July 2004.</ref>
The flora of the island includes 417 species of plants, double that of any other Arctic tundra territory, of comparable size, and more than any other Arctic island. Thus, the island was proclaimed the northernmost World Heritage Site in 2004. Species and genera present include various Arctic-adapted types of ''Androsace'', ''Artemisia'', ''Astragalus'', ''Carex'', ''Cerastium'', ''Draba'', ''Erigeron'', ''Oxytropis'', ''Papaver'', ''Pedicularis'', ''Potentilla'', ''Primula'', ''Ranunculus'', ''Rhodiola'', ''Rumex'', ''Salix'', ''Saxifraga'', ''Silene'' and ''Valeriana'', among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observations - iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=131686&subview=map&taxon_id=47126&view=species |access-date=9 March 2024 |website=iNaturalist}}</ref>
===Important Bird Area=== Wrangel Island, along with nearby Herald Island, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International as it supports breeding colonies of many species of birds, including geese such as brant, cackling, greater white-fronted, Ross' and snow geese, and snowy owls<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Observations - iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=131686&subview=map&taxon_id=3&view=species |access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref>—another Arctic predator attracted by the island's lemmings (which the owls can hear tunneling beneath the snow, catching the rodents with adept proficiency). Several gull species are present, including glaucous, Ross', Sabine's and ivory gulls, long-tailed, pomarine and parasitic jaegers, and black-legged kittiwakes,<ref name=":1" /> as well as many other sea and shorebird species, such as common and king eiders, horned puffins, pelagic cormorants, long-tailed ducks, red phalarope, dunlin, pectoral sandpipers, ruddy turnstones, red knots, black-bellied plovers, thick-billed murres and black guillemots.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url= http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wrangel-and-herald-islands-iba-russia-(asian)|title= Wrangel and Herald Islands|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 29 November 2021}}</ref> Passerine birds, though few, include Arctic warblers, Lapland longspurs and snow buntings.<ref name=":1" /> Wrangel Island is possibly the furthest-north that a sandhill crane has been observed, in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observations - iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/67588322 |access-date=9 March 2024 |website=iNaturalist|date=January 4, 2021 }}</ref>
==Climate== thumb|upright=2|Arctic tundra on Wrangel Island Wrangel Island has a severe polar climate (Köppen ET). The region is blanketed by dry and cold Arctic air masses for most of the year. Warmer and more humid air can reach the island from the south-east during summer. Dry and heated air from Siberia comes to the island periodically.
Wrangel Island is influenced by both the Arctic and Pacific air masses. One consequence is the predominance of high winds. The island is subjected to "cyclonic" episodes characterized by rapid circular winds. It is also an island of mists and fogs.
Winters are prolonged and are characterized by steady frosty weather and high northerly winds. During this period, the temperatures usually stay well below freezing for months. In February and March there are frequent snow-storms with wind speeds of {{cvt|40|m/s|km/h mi/h|sigfig=2}} or above.
There are noticeable differences in climate between the northern, central and southern parts of the island. The central and southern portions are warmer, with some of their valleys having semi-continental climates that support a number of sub-Arctic steppe-like meadow species. This area has been described as perhaps being a relict of the Ice Age mammoth steppe, along with certain areas along the northwestern border between Mongolia and Russia.
The short summers are cool but comparatively mild as the polar day generally keeps temperatures above {{convert|0|°C|abbr=on}}. Some frosts and snowfalls occur, and fog is common. Warmer and drier weather is experienced in the center of the island because the interior's topography encourages foehn winds. As of 2003, the frost-free period on the island was very short, usually not more than 20 to 25 days, and more often only two weeks. Average relative humidity is about 83%.
{{Weather box |location=Wrangel Island |metric first=yes |single line=yes |Jan record high C = 1.5 |Feb record high C = -0.2 |Mar record high C = 0.2 |Apr record high C = 2.5 |May record high C = 9.6 |Jun record high C = 17.6 |Jul record high C = 18.2 |Aug record high C = 16.7 |Sep record high C = 12.7 |Oct record high C = 9.3 |Nov record high C = 2.4 |Dec record high C = 2.1 |year record high C = 18.2 |Jan high C = -18.5 |Feb high C = -18.7 |Mar high C = -17.4 |Apr high C = -11.7 |May high C = -2.5 |Jun high C = 3.8 |Jul high C = 6.5 |Aug high C = 5.6 |Sep high C = 2.8 |Oct high C = -2.4 |Nov high C = -8.4 |Dec high C = -15.5 |year high C = |Jan mean C = -21.8 |Feb mean C = -22.2 |Mar mean C = -21.0 |Apr mean C = -15.2 |May mean C = -5.1 |Jun mean C = 1.2 |Jul mean C = 3.6 |Aug mean C = 3.2 |Sep mean C = 1.0 |Oct mean C = -4.2 |Nov mean C = -10.8 |Dec mean C = -18.2 |year mean C = |Jan low C = -25.1 |Feb low C = -25.7 |Mar low C = -24.5 |Apr low C = -18.8 |May low C = -7.5 |Jun low C = -0.7 |Jul low C = 1.4 |Aug low C = 1.4 |Sep low C = -0.7 |Oct low C = -6.3 |Nov low C = -13.5 |Dec low C = -21.0 |year low C = |Jan record low C = -42.0 |Feb record low C = -44.6 |Mar record low C = -45.0 |Apr record low C = -38.2 |May record low C = -31.5 |Jun record low C = -12.3 |Jul record low C = -4.9 |Aug record low C = -6.5 |Sep record low C = -14.6 |Oct record low C = -29.8 |Nov record low C = -34.9 |Dec record low C = -57.7 |year record low C = -57.7 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 9.1 |Feb precipitation mm = 10.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 7.6 |Apr precipitation mm = 6.7 |May precipitation mm = 7.9 |Jun precipitation mm = 9.3 |Jul precipitation mm = 21.5 |Aug precipitation mm = 22.3 |Sep precipitation mm = 16.3 |Oct precipitation mm = 16.1 |Nov precipitation mm = 11.5 |Dec precipitation mm = 9.4 |year precipitation mm = |Jan rain days = 0.1 |Feb rain days = 0.2 |Mar rain days = 0.03 |Apr rain days = 0.3 |May rain days = 4 |Jun rain days = 9 |Jul rain days = 14 |Aug rain days = 17 |Sep rain days = 11 |Oct rain days = 2 |Nov rain days = 1 |Dec rain days = 0.2 |year rain days = 59 |Jan snow days = 13 |Feb snow days = 13 |Mar snow days = 12 |Apr snow days = 14 |May snow days = 17 |Jun snow days = 9 |Jul snow days = 3 |Aug snow days = 6 |Sep snow days = 15 |Oct snow days = 22 |Nov snow days = 16 |Dec snow days = 13 |year snow days = 153 |Jan humidity = 79 |Feb humidity = 80 |Mar humidity = 80 |Apr humidity = 81 |May humidity = 85 |Jun humidity = 87 |Jul humidity = 88 |Aug humidity = 89 |Sep humidity = 86 |Oct humidity = 81 |Nov humidity = 79 |Dec humidity = 79 |year humidity = 83 |Jan sun = 2 |Feb sun = 59 |Mar sun = 195 |Apr sun = 267 |May sun = 199 |Jun sun = 233 |Jul sun = 226 |Aug sun = 125 |Sep sun = 73 |Oct sun = 50 |Nov sun = 4 |Dec sun = 0 |year sun = 1433 |source 1 = Климат о. Врангеля<ref name=climate>{{cite web | url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/21982.htm | script-title=ru:Климат о. Врангеля | access-date = February 28, 2016 | publisher = Weather and Climate (Погода и климат) | language = ru }}</ref> |source 2 = NOAA (sun 1961–1990)<ref name = NOAA>{{Cite FTP | url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG_II/RA/21982.TXT | server = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | title = Vrangelja Island (Wrangel Island) Climate Normals 1961–1990 | access-date = 28 February 2016}}</ref> |date=August 2010 }}
==Waters on and around Wrangel== According to a 2003 report prepared by the Wrangel Island Nature Preserve, the hydrographic network of Wrangel Island consists of approximately 1,400 rivers over {{cvt|1|km}} in length; five rivers over {{convert|50|km|2}} long; and approximately 900 shallow lakes, mostly located in the northern portion of Wrangel Island, with a total surface area of {{convert|80|km2|abbr=on}}. The waters of the East Siberian Sea and the Sea of Chukchi surrounding Wrangel and Herald Islands are classified as a separate chemical oceanographic region. These waters have among the lowest levels of salinity in the Arctic basin as well as a very high oxygen content and increased biogenic elements.
==History==
=== Extinction of the woolly mammoth and first human presence === [[File:Somnitelnaya 2 2014-08-19.jpg|thumb|left|Woolly mammoth and muskox remains displayed on Wrangel Island, where mammoths survived until 4,000 years ago|244x244px]] Wrangel Island is generally accepted to be the final place on Earth to support an isolated population of woolly mammoths until their extinction about 2000 BC, based on directly radiocarbon dated woolly mammoth bones found on the island.<ref name=bbc120323/><ref name=Vartanyan1>{{cite journal | title = Holocene dwarf mammoths from Wrangel Island in the Siberian Arctic | first1=S. L. | last1=Vartanyan | first2 = V. E. | last2 = Garutt | first3 = A. V. | last3 = Sher | year=1993 | journal = Nature | volume = 362 | issue = 6418 | pages = 337–349 | doi = 10.1038/362337a0 | pmid=29633990 | bibcode=1993Natur.362..337V | s2cid=4249191 }}</ref><ref name=Vartanyan1995>{{cite journal | url = https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/1640/1644 | title = Radiocarbon Dating Evidence for Mammoths on Wrangel Island, Arctic Ocean, until 2000 BC | last = Vartanyan | first = S. L. | year = 1995 | journal = Radiocarbon | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–6 | issn = 0033-8222 | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200014703 | bibcode = 1995Radcb..37....1V | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=wiley120323>{{Citation | title = Microsatellite genotyping reveals end-Pleistocene decline in mammoth autosomal genetic variation | first1 = Veronica | last1 = Nyström | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05525.x | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 21| issue = 14 | date = 2012-03-23 | pmid=22443459 | pages=3391–402| bibcode = 2012MolEc..21.3391N | url = http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-31 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Some authors have suggested that woolly mammoths survived until around the same time on the Taymyr Peninsula of mainland Siberia based on preserved environmental DNA,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Y |last2=Pedersen |first2=M.W. |last3=Alsos |first3=I.g. |display-authors=etal |date=2021 |title=Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics. |journal=Nature |volume=600 |issue=7887 |pages=86–92 |bibcode=2021Natur.600...86W |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04016-x |pmc=8636272 |pmid=34671161}}</ref> but the evidence in support of this claim has been questioned, as it has been demonstrated that environmental DNA in permafrost can be reworked into sediments that clearly post-date the extinction of the species in question.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Seeber |first1=Peter Andreas |last2=Batke |first2=Laura |last3=Dvornikov |first3=Yury |last4=Schmidt |first4=Alexandra |last5=Wang |first5=Yi |last6=Stoof-Leichsenring |first6=Kathleen |last7=Moon |first7=Katie |last8=Vohr |first8=Samuel H |last9=Shapiro |first9=Beth |last10=Epp |first10=Laura S |date=2024-03-15 |title=Mitochondrial genomes of Pleistocene megafauna retrieved from recent sediment layers of two Siberian lakes |url=https://elifesciences.org/articles/89992 |journal=eLife |language=en |volume=12 |article-number=RP89992 |doi=10.7554/eLife.89992.3 |doi-access=free |issn=2050-084X}}</ref>
Initially, it was assumed that this was a specific insular dwarf variant of the species originating from Siberia. However, after further evaluation, while their body size is relatively small, it falls within the size range known for woolly mammoths in mainland Siberia, and thus these Wrangel Island mammoths are no longer considered to have been true dwarves (though true dwarf mammoths and other dwarf elephants are known from other islands, some considerably smaller than Wrangel Island mammoths).<ref name="nmr03">{{cite journal |last=Tikhonov |first=Alexei |author2=Larry Agenbroad |author3=Sergey Vartanyan |year=2003 |title=Comparative analysis of the mammoth populations on Wrangel Island and the Channel Islands |url=https://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_09/DSA9_029_Tikhonov_415-420.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129083836/http://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_09/DSA9_029_Tikhonov_415-420.pdf |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |journal=Deinsea |volume=9 |pages=415–420 |issn=0923-9308}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Palombo |first1=Maria Rita |last2=Zedda |first2=Marco |last3=Zoboli |first3=Daniel |date=2024-02-17 |title=The Sardinian Mammoth's Evolutionary History: Lights and Shadows |journal=Quaternary |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=10 |doi=10.3390/quat7010010 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024Quat....7...10P |issn=2571-550X}}</ref>
Research published in 2017 suggested that the mammoth population was experiencing a genetic meltdown in the DNA of the last animals, a difference when compared with examples about 40,000 years earlier, when populations were plentiful. The research suggests the signature of a genomic meltdown in small populations, consistent with nearly neutral genome evolution. It also suggests large numbers of detrimental variants collecting in pre-extinction genomes, a warning for continued efforts to protect current endangered species with small population sizes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rogers|first1=Rebekah L. |last2=Slatkin |first2=Montgomery |title=Excess of genomic defects in a woolly mammoth on Wrangel Island |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=13 |issue=3 |article-number=e1006601 |date=2017 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006601|pmid=28253255 |pmc=5333797 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, this conclusion regarding the mammoth population was disputed by a later study published in 2024, who found that many of the most deleterious mutations had been purged from the genome, and instead suggested that the extinction was likely due to a catastrophic event, and that the woolly mammoths were already extinct for several centuries prior to the earliest human presence on the island.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Dehasque |first1=Marianne |last2=Morales |first2=Hernán E. |last3=Díez-del-Molino |first3=David |last4=Pečnerová |first4=Patrícia |last5=Chacón-Duque |first5=J. Camilo |last6=Kanellidou |first6=Foteini |last7=Muller |first7=Héloïse |last8=Plotnikov |first8=Valerii |last9=Protopopov |first9=Albert |last10=Tikhonov |first10=Alexei |last11=Nikolskiy |first11=Pavel |last12=Danilov |first12=Gleb K. |last13=Giannì |first13=Maddalena |last14=van der Sluis |first14=Laura |last15=Higham |first15=Tom |date=June 2024 |title=Temporal dynamics of woolly mammoth genome erosion prior to extinction |journal=Cell |language=en |volume=187 |issue=14 |pages=3531–3540.e13 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2024.05.033 |pmid=38942016 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
The earliest evidence of humans (and the only known pre-modern archaeological site on the island) is Chertov Ovrag on the southern coast, a Paleoeskimo short-term hunting camp which dates to around 3,600 years ago. At the camp remains of birds (including the remains of at least 32 snow goose, six long-tailed duck, and one individual each of common murre and snow bunting), as well as two seals (including one bearded seal), a walrus and a polar bear were found in association with stone tools,<ref>D.V. Gerasimov, E.Y. Giria, V.V. Pitul'ko, A.N. Tikhonov [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271517764_New_Materials_for_the_Interpretation_of_the_Chertov_Ovrag_Site_on_Wrangel_Island New Materials for the Interpretation of the Chertov Ovrag Site on Wrangel Island]. Northeast ASIA 203 (2006)</ref> as well as a toggling harpoon head made of walrus tusk. The tools show cultural similarities to other contemporaneous Paleoeskimo sites in Alaska.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bronshtein |first1=Mikhail M. |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34554/chapter/293195514 |title=Ancient Eskimo Cultures of Chukotka |last2=Dneprovsky |first2=Kirill A. |last3=Savinetsky |first3=Arkady B. |date=2016-08-03 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Friesen |editor-first=Max |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199766956.013.53 |editor-last2=Mason |editor-first2=Owen}}</ref>
A legend prevalent among the Chukchi people of Siberia tells of a chief Krachai (or Krächoj, Krahay, Khrakhai), who fled with his people (the Krachaians or Krahays, also identified as the Onkilon or Omoki – Siberian Yupik people) across the ice to settle in a northern land.<ref name=nor1881/><ref name=rink1905/> Though the story may be mythical, the existence of an island or continent to the north was lent credence by the annual migration of reindeer across the ice, as well as the appearance of slate spear-points washed up on Arctic shores, made in a fashion unknown to the Chukchi. Retired University of Alaska Fairbanks linguistics professor Michael E. Krauss presented archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence that Wrangel Island was a way station on a trade route linking the Inuit settlement at Point Hope, Alaska with the north Siberian coast, and that the coast was colonized in late prehistoric and early historic times by Inuit settlers from North America. Krauss suggested that the departure of these colonists was related to the Krachai legend.<ref>Krauss, Michael E. (2005) [http://www.erudit.org/revue/etudinuit/2005/v29/n1-2/013938ar.pdf "Eskimo languages in Asia, 1791 on, and the Wrangel Island-Point Hope connection"]. ''Études/Inuit/Studies'', vol. 29 (1–2), 2005, pp. 163–185.</ref>
===Outside discovery=== thumb|Map of Eastern Siberia with "Tikigen" Land (1825) In 1764, the Cossack Sergeant Stepan Andreyev claimed to have sighted this island. The report of his expedition noted native accounts that it was called Tikegen and inhabited by a people called the Krahay. Eventually, the island was named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, who, after reading Andreyev's report and hearing Chukchi stories of land at the island's coordinates, set off on an expedition (1820–1824) to discover the island, with no success. Wrangel, observing that Andreyev's accounts could be unreliable, suggested Andreyev must have sighted part of the mainland of Asia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Von Wrangel |first=Ferdinand Petrovich |author-link=Ferdinand von Wrangel |editor-last1=Sabine |editor-first1=Edward |date=1840 |title=''Narrative of an expedition to the polar sea, in 1820, 1821, 1822 & 1823'' |url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped00wran |location= |publisher=James Madden and Co. |page=xcvi-xcviii |isbn=}}</ref>
===British, American, and Russian expeditions=== In 1849, Henry Kellett, captain of HMS ''Herald'', landed on and named Herald Island. He erroneously thought he saw another island to the west, which he called Plover Island; thereafter it was indicated on British admiralty charts as Kellett Land.
Eduard Dallmann, a German whaler, reported in 1881 that he had landed on the island in 1866.<ref name=tammik99/>
thumb|right|Sketch of Wrangel Island as it appeared from the top of Herald Island, 1881 In August 1867, Thomas Long, an American whaling captain, "approached it as near as fifteen miles. I have named this northern land Wrangell [sic] Land ... as an appropriate tribute to the memory of a man who spent three consecutive years north of latitude 68°, and demonstrated the problem of this open polar sea forty-five years ago, although others of much later date have endeavored to claim the merit of this discovery." An account appeared in the ''Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science'', 1868 (17th Meeting, at Chicago), published in 1869, under the title "The New Arctic Continent, or Wrangell's Land, discovered 14 August 1867, by Captain Long, of the American Ship Nile, and seen by Captains Raynor, Bliven and others, with a brief Notice of Baron Wrangell's Exploration in 1823".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/newarcticcontine00whei|title=The new Arctic continent |last=Wheildon |first=William Willder |via=Internet Archive |year=1869 |publisher=Salem |access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref>
thumb|right|upright=1.4|Map of Wrangel Island produced by the USS ''Rodgers'' Survey, as reproduced in John Muir's ''Cruise of the Corwin'' George W. De Long, commanding USS ''Jeannette'', led an expedition in 1879 attempting to reach the North Pole, expecting to go by the "east side of Kellett land", which he thought extended far into the Arctic. His ship became locked in the polar ice pack and drifted westward, passing within sight of Wrangel before being crushed and sunk in the vicinity of the New Siberian Islands.
A party from the USRC ''Corwin'' landed on Wrangel Island on 12 August 1881, claimed the island for the United States and named it "New Columbia".<ref>Muir, John (1917), [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_cruise_of_the_corwin/introduction.html ''The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 in search of De Long and the Jeannette'']. Norman S. Berg, Dunwoody, Georgia. (John Muir's description of the 1881 exploration of Wrangel Island.)</ref> The expedition, under the command of Calvin L. Hooper, was seeking the ''Jeannette'' and two missing whalers in addition to conducting general exploration. It included naturalist John Muir, who published the first description of Wrangel Island. In the same year on 23 August, the USS ''Rodgers'', commanded by Lieutenant R. M. Berry during the second search for the ''Jeannette'', landed a party on Wrangel Island which stayed about two weeks and conducted an extensive survey of the southern coast.<ref>George W. De Long, Raymond Lee Newcomb, ''Our Lost Explorers: The Narrative of the Jeannette Arctic Expedition''. p. 60</ref>
In 1911, the Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition on icebreakers ''Vaygach'' and ''Taymyr'' under Boris Vilkitsky, landed on the island.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition (1910-1915) – Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project |url=https://www2.whoi.edu/site/beaufortgyre/history/russian-arctic-ocean-hydrographic-expedition-1910-1915/ |publisher=whoi.edu}}</ref> In 1916 the Tsarist government declared that the island belonged to the Russian Empire.
===Stefansson expeditions=== In 1914, members of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, organized by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, were marooned on Wrangel Island for nine months after their ship, ''Karluk'', was crushed in the ice pack.<ref>Niven, Jennifer, ''The Ice Master, The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk.'' New York: Hyperion Books. 431 pp.</ref> The survivors were rescued by the American motorized fishing schooner ''King & Winge''<ref>Newell, Gordon R., 1966, ''H. W. McCurdy Maritime History of the Pacific Northwest,'' Seattle, Washington: Superior Publishing.</ref> after Captain Robert Bartlett walked across the Chukchi Sea to Siberia to summon help.
In 1921, Stefansson sent five settlers (the Canadian Allan Crawford, three Americans: Fred Maurer, Lorne Knight and Milton Galle, and Iñupiat seamstress and cook Ada Blackjack) to the island in a speculative attempt to claim it for Canada.<ref name="CanGeo">{{cite news |last1=Rowe |first1=Peter |title=Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Ada Blackjack and the Canadian invasion of Russia |url=https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/vilhjalmur-stefansson-ada-blackjack-and-the-canadian-invasion-of-russia/ |access-date=15 July 2022 |work=Canadian Geographic: History |publisher=Canadian Geographic |date=11 March 2022}}</ref><ref>Niven, Jennifer (2003). ''Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic.'' New York: Hyperion Books.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=April 2022}}</ref> The explorers were handpicked by Stefansson based upon their previous experience and academic credentials. Stefansson considered those with advanced knowledge in the fields of geography and science for this expedition. At the time, Stefansson claimed that his purpose was to head off a possible Japanese claim.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/03/20/archives/stefansson-claims-wrangell-island-for-great-britain-the-expedition.html|title=Stefansson Claims Wrangle Island for Great Britain; The Expedition He Sent Out Last Fall Has Established Possession, Says Explorer. Timed to Forestal Japan Any Previous Claims of America or Britain Had Lapsed, He Holds. Now Offered to Canada Stefansson Denies That Russia, to Whom the Island Is Allotted on Maps, Has Any Right to It.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 20, 1922|access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref> An attempt to relieve this group in 1922 failed when the schooner ''Teddy Bear'' under Captain Joe Bernard became stuck in the ice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/09/25/109851589.pdf|title=New York Times September 25, 1922|access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref> In 1923, the sole survivor of the Wrangel Island expedition, Ada Blackjack, was rescued by a ship that left another party of 13 (American Charles Wells and 12 Inuit).<ref name="CanGeo"/>
240 px|right|thumb|Wrangel Island Inuit inhabitants on board ''Krasnyy Oktyabr'', 1924 In 1924, the Soviet Union removed the American and 13 Inuit (one was born on the island) of this settlement aboard the ''Krasny Oktyabr'' (''Red October''). Wells subsequently died of pneumonia in Vladivostok during a diplomatic American-Soviet row about an American boundary marker on the Siberian coast, and an Inuk child died of tuberculosis. The others were deported from Vladivostok to the Chinese border post Suifenhe, but the Chinese government did not want to accept them as the American consul in Harbin told them the Inuit were not American citizens. Later, the American government came up with a statement that the Inuit were 'wards' of the United States, but that there were no funds for returning them. Another child died while they were detained in Manchuria. Eventually, the American Red Cross came up with $1,600 for their return. They left China from Harbin, retrieved by a Japanese ship, and sailed to Victoria and Seattle before returning to Nome.<ref>Kenney, Gerard [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/when-canada-invaded-russia-feature/ "When Canada Invaded Russia"]. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stefansson |first=Vilhjalmur |url=http://archive.org/details/adventureofwrang00stef |title=The Adventure of Wrangel Island |date=1926 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |others=ASC - York University Libraries |year=1926 |isbn=978-1025260679 |location=London}}</ref>
During the Soviet trip, the American reindeer owner Carl J. Lomen from Nome had taken over the possessions of Stefansson and had acquired explicit support ("go and hold it") from US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to claim the island for the United States,<ref>Dudley-Rowley, Marilyn (1998) [http://pweb.jps.net/~gangale/opsa/mars/OutwardCourseOfEmpire.htm "The Outward Course of Empire: The Hard, Cold Lessons from Euro-American Involvement in the Terrestrial Polar Regions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205230843/http://pweb.jps.net/~gangale/opsa/mars/OutwardCourseOfEmpire.htm |date=December 5, 2010 }} presented at the Founding Convention of the Mars Society, August 13–16, 1998, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, United States</ref> a goal about which the Russian expedition got to hear during their trip. Lomen dispatched the MS ''Herman'', commanded by captain Louis L. Lane. Due to unfavorable ice conditions, the ''Herman'' could not get any further than Herald Island, where the American flag was raised.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.polarpost.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=2021&p=15702|title=Полярная Почта • Просмотр темы – Визе В.Ю., Моря Советской Арктики|website=www.polarpost.ru|access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref>
In 1926, the government of the Soviet Union reaffirmed the Tsarist claim to sovereignty over Wrangel Island.
===Soviet administration=== left|thumb left|thumb In 1926, a team of Soviet explorers, equipped with three years of supplies, landed on Wrangel Island. Clear waters that facilitated the 1926 landing were followed by years of continuous heavy ice surrounding the island. Attempts to reach the island by sea failed, and it was feared that the team would not survive their fourth winter.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19290129&id=xjQiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oqcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3637,2261211) "Wrangel Island holds the fate of lost colony"]. ''Berkeley Daily Gazette'', January 29, 1929, p. 4</ref>
In 1929, the icebreaker ''Fyodor Litke'' was chosen for a rescue operation. It sailed from Sevastopol, commanded by captain Konstantin Dublitsky. On 4 July, it reached Vladivostok where all Black Sea sailors were replaced by local crew members. Ten days later ''Litke'' sailed north; it passed the Bering Strait, and tried to pass Long Strait and approach the island from south. On 8 August a scout plane reported impassable ice in the strait, and ''Litke'' turned north, heading to Herald Island. It failed to escape mounting ice; on August 12 the captain shut down the engines to save coal and had to wait two weeks until the ice pressure eased. Making a few hundred meters a day, ''Litke'' reached the settlement August 28. On September 5, ''Litke'' turned back, taking all the 'islanders' to safety. This operation earned ''Litke'' the order of the Red Banner of Labour (January 20, 1930), as well as commemorative badges for the crew.
According to a 1936 article in ''Time'' magazine, Wrangel Island became the scene of a bizarre criminal story in the 1930s when it fell under the increasingly arbitrary rule of its appointed governor Konstantin Semenchuk. Semenchuk controlled the local populace and his own staff through open extortion and murder. He forbade the local Yupik Eskimos (recruited from Provideniya Bay in 1926)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Krupnik |first1=Igor |last2=Chlenov |first2=Mikhail |year=2007 |title=The end of 'Eskimo land': Yupik relocation in Chukotka, 1958–1959 |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |volume=31 |issue=1–2 |pages=59–81 |doi=10.7202/019715ar |s2cid=128562871 |doi-access= }}</ref> to hunt walrus, which put them in danger of starvation, while collecting food for himself. He was then implicated in the mysterious deaths of some of his opponents, including the local doctor. Allegedly, he ordered his subordinate, the sledge driver Stepan Startsev, to murder Nikolai Vulfson, who had attempted to stand up to Semenchuk, on 27 December 1934 (though there were also rumours that Startsev had fallen in love with Vulfson's wife, Gita Feldman, and killed him out of jealousy).<ref>John McCannon, ''Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932–1939'' (Oxford University Press US, 1998: {{ISBN|0-19-511436-1}}), pp. 156–157.</ref> The subsequent trial in May–June 1936, at the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, sentenced Semenchuk and Startsev to death for "banditry" and violation of Soviet law, and "the most publicised result of the trial was the joy of the liberated Eskimos".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312101930/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756168,00.html "Crazy Governor"]. ''Time (magazine)'', vol. XXVI, no. 22 (June 1, 1936).{{page?|date=April 2022}}</ref><ref>Yuri Slezkine, ''Arctic Mirrors: Russia and the Small Peoples of the North'' (Cornell University Press, 1994: {{ISBN|0-8014-8178-3}}), p. 288.</ref> This trial had the result of launching the career of the prosecutor, Andrey Vyshinsky, who called the two defendants "human waste" and who would soon achieve great notoriety in the Moscow Trials.
In 1948, a small herd of domestic reindeer was introduced with the intention of establishing commercial herding to generate income for island residents.
Aside from the main settlement of Ushakovskoye near Rogers Bay, on the south-central coast, in the 1960s a new settlement named Zvyozdny was established {{convert|38|km|abbr=on}} to the west in the Somnitelnaya Bay area, where ground runways reserved for military aviation were constructed (these were abandoned in the 1970s). Moreover, a military radar installation was built on the southeast coast at Cape Hawaii. Rock crystal mining had been carried out for a number of years in the center of the island near Khrustalnyi Creek. At the time, a small settlement, Perkatkun, had been established nearby to house the miners, but later on it was completely destroyed.
===Establishment of Federal Nature Reserve=== Resolution #189 of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was adopted on 23 March 1976, for the establishment of the state Nature Reserve "Wrangel Island" for the purpose of conserving the unique natural systems of Wrangel and Herald Islands and the surrounding waters out to {{cvt|5|nmi|km|0}}. On 15 December 1997, the Russian Government's Decree No. 1623-r expanded the marine reserve out to {{cvt|12|nmi|km|0}}. On 25 May 1999, the (regional) Governor of Chukotka issued Decree No. 91, which again expanded the protected water area to {{cvt|24|nmi|km|0}} around Wrangel and Herald Islands.
By the 1980s, the reindeer-herding farm on Wrangel had been abolished and the settlement of Zvezdnyi was virtually abandoned. Hunting had already been stopped, except for a small quota of marine mammals for the needs of the local population. In 1992, the military radar installation at Cape Hawaii (on the southeast coast) was closed, and only the settlement of Ushakovskoye remained occupied.
===Post-Soviet era=== According to some American activists and government officials, at least eight Arctic islands currently controlled by Russia, including Wrangel Island, are claimed or should be claimed by the United States.<ref>Salom, Don Eric (1981). [https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cwilj/vol11/iss1/12/ "The United States Claim to Wrangel Island: The Dormancy Should End"], ''California Western International Law Journal'': Vol. 11: No. 1, Article 12.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dans |first=Thomas Emanuel |title=Opinion {{!}} Russia Occupies American Land, Too |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-occupies-american-land-wrangle-island-arctic-soviet-russia-putin-lenin-national-security-11667597158 |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> However, according to the United States Department of State<ref>Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2003, [http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/20922.htm "Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands"]. U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. (Fact sheet on Wrangel Island).</ref> no such claim exists.<ref>See also Brooks Jackson, [http://www.factcheck.org/2012/03/alaskan-island-giveaway/ "Alaskan Island Giveaway?"], FactCheck.org, 27 March 2012 (accessed 28 July 2017); Carole Fader, [http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-05-12/story/fact-check-no-alaskan-island-giveaway-russians "Fact Check: No Alaskan island giveaway to the Russians"], ''The Florida Times-Union'', 12 May 2012 (accessed 28 July 2017).</ref> The USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement,<ref>US Department of State and USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs (1990), [https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/USA-RUS1990MB.PDF ''1990 USSR/USA Maritime Boundary Treaty'']. DOALOS/OLA – [https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/ United Nations Delimitation Treaties Infobase], New York.</ref> which has yet to be approved by the Russian Duma, does not specifically address the status of these islands nor the maritime boundaries associated with them.
On 1 June 1990, US Secretary of State James Baker signed an executive agreement with Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet foreign minister. It specified that even though the treaty had not been ratified, the U.S. and the USSR agreed to abide by the terms of the treaty beginning 15 June 1990. The Senate ratified the USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement in 1991, which was then signed by US President George H. W. Bush.<ref name="statedepartmentwatch.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.statedepartmentwatch.org/1990ExecAgreement.htm|title=US and Soviet letters as posted by State Department Watch|access-date=August 27, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304062751/http://www.statedepartmentwatch.org/1990ExecAgreement.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
In 2004, Wrangel Island and neighboring Herald Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/65/|title=First wave of new properties added to World Heritage List for 2004|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref>
===Russian naval base=== In 2014, the Russian Navy announced plans to establish a base on the island.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/russian-navy-hoists-flag-on-remote-arctic-island_351405.html |title=Russian navy hoists flag on remote Arctic island |date=20 August 2014 |website=en.europeonline-magazine.eu |publisher=DPA |access-date=20 August 2014 |archive-date=August 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821071739/http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/russian-navy-hoists-flag-on-remote-arctic-island_351405.html }}; Itar/Tass [http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/745800 "Russian Pacific Fleet stations naval base on Wrangel Island"]</ref> The bases on Wrangel Island and on Cape Schmidt on Russia's Arctic coast reportedly consist of two sets of 34 prefabricated modules.<ref>{{cite news|work=Alaska Dispatch News|date=September 10, 2014|title=AK Beat: New Russian military bases going up on Arctic island near Alaska|url=http://www.adn.com/article/20140910/ak-beat-russia-erecting-military-base-wrangel-island}}</ref>
==In literature== In Jules Verne's novel ''César Cascabel'', the protagonists float past Wrangel Island on an iceberg. In Verne's description, a live volcano is located on the island: "Between the two capes on its southern coast, Cape Hawan and Cape Thomas, it is surmounted by a live volcano, which is marked on the recent maps."<ref>{{cite book |title=Caesar Cascabel |last=Verne |first=Jules |author-link=Jules Verne |others=trans. by A. Estoclet |year=1890 |publisher=Cassell Publishing Company |location=New York |chapter-url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/C%C3%A6sar_Cascabel/Part_2/Chapter_III |chapter=Part 2, Chapter III: Adrift }}</ref> In Chukchi author Yuri Rytkheu's historical novel ''A Dream in Polar Fog'', set in the early 20th century, the Chukchi knew of Wrangel Island and referred to it as the "Invisible Land" or "Invisible Island".<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dream in Polar Fog |last=Rytkheu |first=Yuri |author-link=Yuri Rytkheu |others=trans. by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse |year=2005 |publisher=Archipelago Books |location=Brooklyn, NY |isbn=978-0-9778576-1-6 |pages=8, 154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLLNMCqdedAC }}</ref>
The title poem of Craig Finlay's 2021 collection ''The Very Small Mammoths of Wrangel Island'' describes the last few wooly mammoths living there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-31 |title=Book Review: Craig Finlay, The Very Small Mammoths of Wrangel Island. Poems. |url=http://pembrokemagazine.com/book-reviews/2021/10/21/craig-finlay-the-very-small-mammoths-of-wrangel-island-poems-urban-farmhouse-press-2021 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Pembroke Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== * Russian Arctic islands * List of islands of Russia * List of nature reserves in Russia * World Heritage Sites in Russia
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=dating98>{{Cite journal | url = https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/2015/2018 | title = Consensus Dating of Remains from Wrangel Island | first1 = Kh. A. | last1 = Arslanov | first2 = G. T. | last2 = Cook | first3 = Steinar | last3 = Gulliksen | first4 = D.D. | last4 = Harkness | volume= 40 | number= 1 | journal=Radiocarbon | year=1998 | pages=289–294 | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200018166 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
<ref name=distrib05>{{citation | title = The Dynamic of Mammoth Distribution in the Last Refugia in Beringia | first1 = Sergei L. | last1 = Vartanyan | first2 = Alexei N. | last2 = Tikhonov | first3 = Lyobov A. | last3 = Orlova | work = Second World of Elephants Congress, (Hot Springs: Mammoth Site, 2005), 195 }}</ref>
<ref name=nor1881>{{cite book |title=The voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe: with a historical review of previous journeys along the north coast of the old world |last=Nordenskiöld |first=Adolf Erik |author-link=Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld |others=trans. by Alexander Leslie |year=1881 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/voyagevegaround02nordgoog/page/n492 443]–448 |url=https://archive.org/details/voyagevegaround02nordgoog }}</ref>
<ref name=rink1905>{{cite journal |last=Rink |first=Signe |year=1905 |title=A Comparative Study of Two Indian and Eskimo Legends |journal=Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists |page=280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcViAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA280}}</ref>
<ref name=tammik99>{{cite journal |last=Tammiksaar |first=E. |author2=N.G. Sukhova |author3=I.R. Stone |date=Sep 1999 |title=Hypothesis Versus Fact: August Petermann and Polar Research |journal=Arctic |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=237–244 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic52-3-237.pdf |doi=10.14430/arctic929 |archive-date=March 27, 2009 |access-date=March 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327163505/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic52-3-237.pdf }}</ref> }}
===Works cited=== * {{Cite journal |author=Anonymous |year=1923 |title=Wrangel Island |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=440–444 |doi=10.2307/1781170|jstor=1781170 |bibcode=1923GeogJ..62..440. }}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} {{Refbegin|30em}} * Anonymous, 2008, {{Cite web |url=http://www.oceandots.com/arctic/wrangel |title=''Wrangel Island.'' |access-date=March 14, 2009 |archive-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://www.oceandots.com/arctic/wrangel |url-status=bot: unknown }}{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031009022059/http://oceandots.com/ Oceandots.com]}} (aerial image and description of Wrangel Island) * Pictures from [http://travelpixels.org/2009/03/25/wrangel-island/ ''Wrangel Island.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501055315/http://travelpixels.org/2009/03/25/wrangel-island/ |date=May 1, 2009 }}, 2007. * Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2003, [http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/20922.htm ''Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands.''] U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. (Fact sheet on Wrangel Island.) * Eglin, Libby, 2000, [http://www.eglinpix.com/wrangel.htm ''Run For Wrangel.''] Tourist's account and photography. * Eime, Roderick, nd, [http://monolith.com.au/wrangel/ ''Wrangel Island: Isolation, Desolation and Tragedy.''] Comments about history and tourism of Wrangel Island. * Gray, D., 2003, [http://www.civilization.ca/hist/cae/cre16e.html ''The story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913–1918.''] Virtual Museum of Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec. (Includes [http://www.civilization.ca/hist/cae/dis50e.html ''Loss of the Karluk and Wrangel Island'']) * Gualtieri, L., nd, [http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/gualtieri/web/wrangel.htm ''The Late Pleistocene Glacial and Sea Level History of Wrangel Island, Northeast Siberia.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719202143/http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/gualtieri/web/wrangel.htm |date=July 19, 2017 }} Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington. (Numerous comments, picture, papers, links, concerning various aspects of Wrangel Island) * [http://www.1uptravel.com/worldmaps/russia61.html Detailed map of Wrangel Island] (click link in list) * McClanahan, A.J., nd, [http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=History%20and%20Culture&page=Life%20in%20Alaska&ContentId=850&viewpost=2 ''The Heroine of Wrangel Island. ''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170814/http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=History%20and%20Culture&page=Life%20in%20Alaska&ContentId=850&viewpost=2 |date=March 3, 2016 }} LitSite, Alaska. (Article about Ada Blackjack Johnson and Wrangel Island.) * MacPhee, Ross, nd, [http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/siberia/ ''Siberian Expedition to Wrangel Island.''], American Museum of Natural History, New York. (Hunting mammoths on Wrangel Island) * Muir, John, 1917, [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_cruise_of_the_corwin/introduction.html ''The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 in search of De Long and the Jeannette.''] Norman S. Berg, Dunwoody, Georgia. John Muir's description of the 1881 exploration of Wrangel Island. * [http://www.nhpfund.org/ Natural Heritage Protection Fund], 2008, [http://www.nhpfund.org/nominations/wrangel.html ''Wrangel Island.''] Moscow, Russian Federation. (Web page about the Wrangel Island World Heritage Site.) * Rosse, I.C., 1883, [https://archive.org/details/thefirstlandingo18643gut ''The First Landing on Wrangel Island: With Some Remarks on the Northern Inhabitants.''] Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York. vol. 15, pp. 163–214. Text files from Project Gutenberg. ([https://www.jstor.org/pss/196541 Also, available from JSTOR]) * Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1921, [https://archive.org/details/friendlyarcticst00stefuoft ''The friendly Arctic; the story of five years in polar regions''] G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 319 pp. * UNESCO World Heritage Committee, nd, [https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1023&l=en ''Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve.''] United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, New York. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130420010033/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/wrangel-island/sides-text ''Russian Refuge''] published May 2013 National Geographic magazine {{Refend}}
{{Chukchi Sea Islands}} {{East Siberian Sea Islands}} {{World Heritage Sites in Russia|state=collapsed}} {{Russian Zapovedniks}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Wrangel Island Category:Ecoregions of Russia Category:Palearctic ecoregions Category:Tundra ecoregions Category:World Heritage Sites in Russia Category:Important Bird Areas of Russia Category:Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands Category:Important Bird Areas of North Asia Category:Zapovednik Category:International territorial disputes of the United States Category:Territorial disputes of Russia