It is covered by tundra, but some lichens, grasses, and dwarf willow shrubs (Salix purpurea) grow during the warmer seasons.

[2][3] It is separated from the mainland by the Malygina Strait, an 8 to 10 km wide sound which is frozen most of the year.

The land is rather flat, going only 12m above sea level, and the island is dotted by small lakes and ponds.

Since it is in the Arctic Circle, winters are long and frigid, the average annual temperature is a mere -10.6°C.

[3] This island belongs to the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug which is the northern part of the Tyumen Oblast administrative division of Russia.