archipelago of two large islands & several small ones in NW Russia, between the Barents & Kara seas: c. 36,000 sq mi (93,240 sq km)
Origin:
Russ, lit., new land
See Novaya Zemlya in American Heritage Dictionary 4
An archipelago of north-central Russia in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas. Consisting of two main islands and many smaller ones, the archipelago has mineral deposits and an economy based on fishing, sealing, and trapping.