Description
Island chain comprising the west end of the Aleutian Islands, extending from the Ingenstrem Rocks westward about 95 mi to Peaked Island just off Cape Wrangell, west of Attu Island. The principal islands are Attu, Agattu, and the three Semichi Islands, Alaid, Nizki, and Shemya.
History
This name is a traslation of the descriptive name "Plishnie Ostrova," published by G. H. von Langsdorff (1813-14, v. 2, p. 13). Lieutenant G. A. Sarichev (1826, map 1), Imperial Russian Navy (IRN), published the name as "o(stro) va Blizhniye." This name was given by the early Russian explorers because these are the nearest of the Aleutian Islands to Asia. See Aleutian Islands.