The Russian people knew of Novaya Zemlya from the 11th century, when hunters from
Novgorod visited the area. For Western Europeans, the search for the
Northern Sea Route in the 16th century led to its exploration. (Barentsz died during the expedition and may have been buried on Severny Island.) During a later voyage by
Fyodor Litke in 1821–1824, the western coast was
mapped. The islands were systematically surveyed by
Pyotr Pakhtusov and
Avgust Tsivolko during the early 1830s. The first permanent settlement was established in 1870 at
Malye Karmakuly, which served as the capital of Novaya Zemlya until 1924. Later, the administrative center was transferred to
Belushya Guba, in 1935 to
Lagernoe,
Nuclear testing In July 1954, Novaya Zemlya was designated as the nuclear weapons testing venue, construction of which began in October and existed during much of the
Cold War. "Zone A",
Chyornaya Guba (), was used in 1955–1962 and 1972–1975. 1963 saw the implementation of the
Limited Test Ban Treaty which banned most atmospheric nuclear tests. The largest underground test in Novaya Zemlya took place on September 12, 1973, involving four nuclear devices of 4.2 megatons total yield. Although far smaller in blast power than the Tsar Bomba and other atmospheric tests, the confinement of the blasts underground led to pressures rivaling natural
earthquakes. In the case of the September 12, 1973 test, a seismic magnitude of 6.97 on the
Richter scale was reached, setting off an 80-million-ton
avalanche that blocked two
glacial streams and created a lake in length. In 1988–1989,
glasnost helped make the Novaya Zemlya testing activities public knowledge, The last nuclear test explosion was in 1990 (also the last for the entire Soviet Union and Russia). The
Ministry for Atomic Energy has performed a series of
subcritical underwater nuclear experiments near Matochkin Shar each autumn since 1998. These tests reportedly involve up to of weapons-grade plutonium. In October 2012, it was reported that Russia would resume subcritical nuclear testing at "Zone B". In spring 2013, construction of what would become a new tunnel and four buildings was initiated near the
Severny settlement, west-northwest to the
Mount Lazarev. In 2023, CNN reported that commercial satellite imagery showed new tunneling activity and surface construction at Novaya Zemlya test sites (including published imagery at ) that indicated possible preparation for resumption of nuclear testing. ==Population==