Skip to content
Archipelago

    Elephant Island

    Sloní ostrov, Elefanteninsel

    61°10′S 55°14′W

    Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean.

    In 1916 22 members of the ill-fated Endurance expedition sheltered for four and a half months on Point Wild, a tiny spit on the north coast of Elephant Island, before being rescued.
    In 1916 22 members of the ill-fated Endurance expedition sheltered for four and a half months on Point Wild, a tiny spit on the north coast of Elephant Island, before being rescued.

    David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada / CC BY 2.0

    Terrain

    61°10′S 55°14′W

    Terrain exaggerated for relief. Drag to look around.

    Overview

    Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated 245 kilometres (152 miles) north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, 1,253 kilometres (779 miles) west-southwest of South Georgia, 935 kilometres (581 miles) south of the Falkland Islands, and 885 kilometres (550 miles) southeast of Cape Horn. It is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom. The Brazilian Antarctic Program maintains a shelter on the island, Goeldi, and formerly had another (Wiltgen) supporting the work of up to six researchers each during the summer. Wiltgen was dismantled in the summers of 1997 and 1998.

    From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Chart

    Nearest islands

    Also in South Shetland Islands

    Sources

    Facts

    • Geometry, areas and high points: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Copernicus GLO-30, via Talus.
    • Talus
    • Wikidata
    • Wikipedia

    Photographs