Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
1,517km²
Area
260km
Coastline
408m
Highest point
0
People
0°C
Warmest sea
August
291km
To the mainland
When to go to Pioneer Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (0 °C) and coolest in January (-2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island
Pioneer Island is an island in Russia. It belongs to Severnaya Zemlya. It covers 1,517 km², with 260 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 408 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 291 km away.
Getting there
- 291 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 58 m above the sea. 95 % of it is below 200 m.
- 59 %0–50 m
- 36 %50–200 m
- 5 %200–500 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -20 | -20 | -19 | -14 | -7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -7 | -14 | -18 |
| Night low (°C) | -24 | -24 | -23 | -18 | -10 | -2 | 0 | -1 | -4 | -10 | -18 | -22 |
| Sea (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 25 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 47 | 45 | 62 | 52 | 40 | 29 | 26 |
| Wet days | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Sun h/day | — | 2.5 | 7.9 | 12.9 | 16.8 | 15.4 | 9.6 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 2.1 | — | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 21 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.6 | −0.7 | −0.6 | +1.4 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.6 | −1.0 | −1.1 | −1.0 | −0.5 | −0.1 | +0.1 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.9 | −1.0 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.1 | +0.1 |
| 2023 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.7 | −0.8 | −0.8 | −0.4 | −0.1 | +0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.6 | −0.8 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.1 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +2.6 | +1.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Komsomolets Island
Russia9,006 km²935 m83 km away
October Revolution IslandRussia14,204 km²965 m96 km away
Schmidt IslandRussia394 km²346 m143 km away
Bolshevik IslandRussia11,206 km²935 m257 km away
Ushakov IslandRussia333 km²350 m264 km away
Wiese IslandRussia250 km²20 m313 km away
Maly Taymyr IslandRussia241 km²30 m366 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q923043) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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