It lies in the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.

Nathorst Land was named after Swedish Arctic explorer Alfred Gabriel Nathorst (1850–1921) by Lauge Koch during aerial surveys in 1932 which were part of the Three-year Expedition to East Greenland.

Nathorst Land is a mountainous region bounded by the F. Graae Glacier and the inner Nordvestfjord to the south, and to the north by Tærskeldal and Forsblad Fjord, beyond which lies Lyell Land.

To the east it is separated from the Stauning Alps region by the Alpefjord, Prinsesse Glacier and Borgbjerg Glacier.

[1] To the west lies Charcot Land and to the northwest the Sortehest nunatak and the Greenland ice sheet.