Livingston Island

Livingston Island (historical Russian name Smolensk, 62°36′S 60°30′W / 62.600°S 60.500°W / -62.600; -60.500) is an Antarctic island in the South Shetland Islands, Western Antarctica lying between Greenwich Island and Snow Islands. This island was the first land discovered south of 60° south latitude in 1819, and the name Livingston, although of unknown derivation, has been well established in international usage since the early 1820s.

Geography

Livingston is situated in the Southern Ocean 110 km (68 mi) to the northwest of Cape Roquemaurel on the Antarctic mainland, 809 km (503 mi) to the south-southeast of Cape Horn in South America, 796 km (495 mi) to the southeast of the Diego Ramirez Islands (the southernmost land of South America), 1,063 km (661 mi) due south of the Falkland Islands, 1,571 km (976 mi) to the southwest of South Georgia Islands, and 3,040 km (1,889 mi) from the South Pole.

The island is part of the South Shetlands archipelago, an islands chain extending 510 km (317 mi) in east-northeast to west-southwest direction, and separated from the nearby Antarctic Peninsula by Bransfield Strait, and from South America by the Drake Passage. The South Shetlands cover a total land area of 3,687 km² (1,424 sq mi) comprising (from east to west) Clarence Island, Elephant Island, King George Island, Nelson Island, Robert Island, Greenwich Island, Livingston Island, Deception Island, Snow Island, Low Island and Smith Island, as well as numerous smaller islets and rocks.