Novaya Zemlya () is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe. The archipelago is made of a north island and a south island; it separates the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea. There is a narrow channel, called Matochkin Strait that separates the two islands. Both islands together are about 900 km long; they are between 470 and 1150 km north of the Arctic Circle. Today, 2716 people live on the islands. 2622 of them live in the capital "Belushya Guba" (on the south island)