Matochkin Shar (or Matochkin Strait; Маточкин Шар in Russian), a strait between Severny (northern) and Yuzhny (southern) islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. The banks along the strait are high and steep. Its length is approx. 100 km, width (in its narrowest part) - approx. 0,6 km. The strait is covered with ice for the most part of the year. There are fishing settlements along the strait (Matochkin Shar, Stolbovoy).