Dezhnev Bay (Zaliv Dezhneva) lies between the western part of the island and the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula.

Cambridge Channel (Proliv Kambritch) is a wide sound between Alexandra Land and Zemlya Georga.

[citation needed] The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition led by Frederick Jackson was the first to set foot on Alexandra Land in 1895.

[7] Russian navigator Valerian Albanov of the Svyataya Anna reached Cape Mary Harmsworth in Alexandra Land in 1914 after his ordeal on the polar ice.

During World War II, the Germans established an ill-fated meteorological station on the island, called Schatzgräber ("Treasure Hunter").

It was named after pioneer pilot Jan Nagórski (1888–1976) and served as one of the most important meteorological stations in the archipelago during the Cold War.

A major new base, named the "Arctic Trefoil" (Arkticheskiy trilistnik) for its three-lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye.