Belaya Zemlya (Russian: Белая Земля, literally "White Land") is a group of three cold, glaciated islands.

This area was named Hvidtenland (Norwegian: "White Land") by Fridtjof Nansen, who reached this desolate place on August 5, 1895 during his polar expedition.

Belaya Zemlya is the point of the Franz Josef Archipelago that Valerian Albanov was trying to reach when he left the Svyataya Anna with part of the crew, but owing to the polar ice drift and the abundance of polynias along his route, he ended up far to the southwest in Alexandra Land.

[1] Belaya Zemlya is separated from the main Franz Josef group by a 45 km (28 mi) broad strait known as Proliv Severo-Vostochnyy.

[2] The strait running through Belaya Zemlya is called Proliv Sarsa, named after Michael Sars.