Alexander Island

Alexander Island is the largest island of Antarctica, situated off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and separated from it by George VI Sound. The island covers roughly 49,070 square kilometres and is largely ice-covered with rugged mountain ranges.

Prominent features include high peaks such as Mount Stephenson, interior glaciers and nunataks that protrude through the ice. The island’s coastline is indented by inlets and is frequently fringed by sea ice and ice shelves.

The island was discovered and named during early 19th-century Antarctic exploration; its eastern separation from the peninsula is marked by the George VI Sound channel. Today the island is visited primarily by scientific expeditions rather than mass tourism and contains features of interest to glaciologists and polar researchers.

Alexander Island lies off the western flank of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bellingshausen Sea sector, forming a substantial, largely uninhabited landmass within the Antarctic region.

• Size: Largest island of Antarctica with an area of about 49,070 square kilometres.
• Topography: Highest interior peaks rise to nearly 3,000 metres, and much of the island is permanently glaciated or ice-covered.

What to See #

• Mount Stephenson: A mountain massif on the island whose highest summit, Mount Stephenson, reaches approximately 2,987 metres and forms part of the island's interior mountain ranges.
• George VI Sound: The stretch of water, known as George VI Sound, that separates the island from Palmer Land on the Antarctic Peninsula and is often occupied by floating ice shelves and sea ice.