NorwaySvalbardIsland

Prins Karls Forland

610 km² rising to 1,084 m out of the Greenland Sea.

N 5 km

BeachesPeaks

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

610km²

Area

295km

Coastline

1,084m

Highest point

Monacofjellet

People

5°C

Warmest sea

August

848km

To the mainland

When to go to Prins Karls Forland

Good all year round.

The sea is warmest in August (5 °C) and coolest in December (1 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

1°-5°-8°

Jan16

1°-5°-9°

Feb14

1°-7°-10°

Mar14

1°-4°-7°

Apr12

1°0°-2°

May10

2°3°2°

Jun9

4°6°4°

Jul13

5°5°4°

Aug14

4°3°1°

Sep15

2°-1°-3°

Oct15

1°-3°-6°

Nov15

1°-4°-8°

Dec16

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days

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 of Svalbard

Prins Karls Forland is an island in Norway. It belongs to Svalbard. It covers 610 km², with 295 km of coastline. Its highest point, Monacofjellet, rises to 1,084 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 848 km away.

Getting there

Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 105 km in a straight lineCar hire at HFT airport (Hammerfest)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
848 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at HFT airport (Hammerfest)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Prins Karls Forland.

1beachesTrocaderostranda
52named peaksMonacofjellet, Jessiefjellet, Phippsfjellet and 49 more

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Prins Karls Forland in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Prins Karls Forland, each with its own numbers.

4beaches and covesCoastya
55mountainsPeakyas

Highest point
1,084m
Monacofjellet
according to Peakyas
Beach with the warmest sea
5.2°C
Kinghamna
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

4 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Trocaderostranda5.0°C
Niggbuktacove4.8°C
Kulpencove5.0°C
Kinghamnacove5.2°C

Open Coastya ↗

55 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

Monacofjellet1,084m
Jessiefjellet1,030m
Phippsfjellet1,013m
Parnasset997m
Charlesfjellet976m
Phippsaksla964m
Kasinoet952m
Djevletommelen829m

47 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 113 m above the sea. 78 % of it is below 200 m.

58 %0–50 m
20 %50–200 m
18 %200–500 m
4 %500–1,000 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.

Prins Karls Forland610 km²

Madeira Island742 km²

Tenerife2,038 km²

20 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)	-5	-5	-7	-4	0	3	6	5	3	-1	-3	-4
Night low (°C)	-8	-9	-10	-7	-2	2	4	4	1	-3	-6	-8
Sea (°C)	1	1	1	1	1	2	4	5	4	2	1	1
Rain (mm)	70	57	57	42	38	35	49	56	69	69	65	64
Wet days	16	14	14	12	10	9	13	14	15	15	15	16
Sun h/day	—	0.2	1.8	3.6	4.9	6.4	4.2	3.3	1.8	0.1	—	—
Wind (km/h)	27	28	26	23	19	16	15	16	21	23	26	28

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	−2.3	−2.0	−2.4	−1.9	+0.4	+0.9	+2.3	+2.3	+1.6	+1.4	+0.6	+0.4
2021	+0.5	+0.6	+0.4	+0.7	+0.9	−0.1	−0.3	+0.6	+1.0	+0.9	+0.6	+0.2
2022	−0.3	−1.0	−0.1	+0.6	+0.6	+2.2	+2.1	+2.0	+1.3	+1.3	+0.8	+1.3
2023	+0.4	−0.1	−0.4	−0.6	−0.1	+0.8	+3.6	+2.1	+1.6	+1.5	+1.4	+0.4
2024	−0.6	−1.6	−1.0	−0.6	−0.4	+0.5	+1.2	+1.9	+2.1	+1.7	+1.4	+0.6
2025	−0.3	−0.3	−0.2	+0.7	+1.7	+2.5	+2.3	+2.3	+2.4	+2.6	+2.2	+1.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Forlandet IMG 4687 Donaldhumpane Salfjellet — Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0

Forlandet IMG 4703 Salfjellsletta Salpynten — Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Spitsbergen

Norway39,044 km²1,713 m111 km away

Wilhelmøya

Norway118 km²558 m211 km away

Barentsøya

Norway1,276 km²405 m232 km away

Nordaustlandet

Norway14,467 km²764 m275 km away

Edgeøya

Norway5,073 km²590 m280 km away

Svenskøya

Norway138 km²280 m342 km away

Kong Karls Land

Norway361 km²316 m384 km away

Kongsøya

Norway200 km²320 m382 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q177392) · 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
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls	Coastya, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST