History
The islands are named after Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup, who explored and mapped them from 1898 to 1902 with the vessel Fram, although some were previously inhabited by Inuit people. Sverdrup claimed the islands for Norway, but the Norwegian government showed no interest in pursuing the claim until 1928. At that point, the Norwegian government raised the claim, primarily to use the islands as bargaining chips in negotiations with the United Kingdom over the status of the other arctic islands Jan Mayen and Bouvet Island. On 11 November 1930, Norway recognized Canadian sovereignty over the Sverdrup Islands. On 19 November 1930, the UK recognized Norwegian sovereignty over Jan Mayen.
Read more about this topic: Sverdrup Islands
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“The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records between the material and the moral nature.”
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