The Yenisey Gulf and its islands belong to the Krasnoyarsk Krai administrative division of the Russian Federation and is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve of Russia.

The whole region of the lower Yenisey is bleak and sparsely inhabited, and the settlements are built on permafrost ground.

The mouth of the gulf is roughly located at 72° 30′ N, in the area of Sibiryakov Island, in the Kara Sea.

The weather pattern in this desolate area is severe, with long and bitter winters and frequent blizzards and gales.

The Yenisey estuary is frozen for about nine months in a year and even in summer it is never quite free of ice floes.