The closest Russian Arctic possession, Victoria Island, lies only 62 kilometres (39 mi) to the east of Kvitøya.

The island is almost completely covered by Kvitøyjøkulen, an ice cap with an area of 705 square kilometres (272 sq mi) with a classical, hourglass-shaped dome, which has given it its name.

The few ice-free land areas are each only a few square kilometres large and very barren and rocky, the largest being Andréeneset on the southwest corner of the island.

The fate of the expedition was one of the great mysteries of the Arctic for over three decades, until its remains were discovered by the ship Bratvaag in 1930, and diaries, logs of scientific observations and photographs—glass negative plates, which had been deep frozen and could be developed—were recovered at the site.

Another monument, put there by the "Stockholm expedition" in 1997 to commemorate the 100 years anniversary of the tragic event, was later deliberately destroyed by the Svalbard authority, on the ground of it being illegally erected.