Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
610km²
Area
295km
Coastline
1,084m
Highest point
Monacofjellet
0
People
5°C
Warmest sea
August
848km
To the mainland
When to go to Prins Karls Forland
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (5 °C) and coolest in December (1 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island of Svalbard
Prins Karls Forland is an island in Norway. It belongs to Svalbard. It covers 610 km², with 295 km of coastline. Its highest point, Monacofjellet, rises to 1,084 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 848 km away.
Getting there
- Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 105 km in a straight lineCar hire at HFT airport (Hammerfest)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 848 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Prins Karls Forland.
- 1beachesTrocaderostranda
- 52named peaksMonacofjellet, Jessiefjellet, Phippsfjellet and 49 more
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Prins Karls Forland in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Prins Karls Forland, each with its own numbers.
4beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
5.2°C
Kinghamna
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
4 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Trocaderostranda5.0°C
- Niggbuktacove4.8°C
- Kulpencove5.0°C
- Kinghamnacove5.2°C
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 113 m above the sea. 78 % of it is below 200 m.
- 58 %0–50 m
- 20 %50–200 m
- 18 %200–500 m
- 4 %500–1,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -5 | -5 | -7 | -4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | -1 | -3 | -4 |
| Night low (°C) | -8 | -9 | -10 | -7 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | -3 | -6 | -8 |
| Sea (°C) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Rain (mm) | 70 | 57 | 57 | 42 | 38 | 35 | 49 | 56 | 69 | 69 | 65 | 64 |
| Wet days | 16 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| Sun h/day | — | 0.2 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 6.4 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.1 | — | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 27 | 28 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 21 | 23 | 26 | 28 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | −2.3 | −2.0 | −2.4 | −1.9 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +2.3 | +2.3 | +1.6 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.9 | −0.1 | −0.3 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.3 | −1.0 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +2.2 | +2.1 | +2.0 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +1.3 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −0.6 | −0.1 | +0.8 | +3.6 | +2.1 | +1.6 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +0.4 |
| 2024 | −0.6 | −1.6 | −1.0 | −0.6 | −0.4 | +0.5 | +1.2 | +1.9 | +2.1 | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.6 |
| 2025 | −0.3 | −0.3 | −0.2 | +0.7 | +1.7 | +2.5 | +2.3 | +2.3 | +2.4 | +2.6 | +2.2 | +1.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Spitsbergen
Norway39,044 km²1,713 m111 km away
WilhelmøyaNorway118 km²558 m211 km away
BarentsøyaNorway1,276 km²405 m232 km away
NordaustlandetNorway14,467 km²764 m275 km away
EdgeøyaNorway5,073 km²590 m280 km away
SvenskøyaNorway138 km²280 m342 km away
Kong Karls LandNorway361 km²316 m384 km away
KongsøyaNorway200 km²320 m382 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q177392) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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