According to a group of scientists, a 60*30 meters island situated off the coast in Greenland is the northernmost island of the planet.

The group of Scientists who flew to what they thought was Oodaaq Island, which has been known since 1978 as the northernmost island, to collect samples had reached further 800 meters further north.

They say that the 60*30m island they reached is the closest land surface to the north pole.

Greenland falls under Denmark's territory after they incorporated the territory into a district from a colony in 1953.

"The island was discovered during a Danish-Swiss research expedition, which I was co-ordinating," BBC quoted the scientific leader Morten Rasch of the Arctic Station in Greenland, University of Copenhagen.

"We wanted among many other things to visit Oodaaq Island, which was previously known as the northernmost island." He said they went there looking "to sample the island to look for new species being adapted to a life in this very extreme environment."

 

"We were six people in a small helicopter, and when we reached the position of Oodaaq Island, we could not find it," he said, adding that maps were not very accurate in that part of the world.

"So, we just started to search for the island. After a few very exciting minutes, we landed on a strange unvegetated bunch of mud, moraine deposits, and gravel surrounded by sea ice on all sides - not a very friendly place.

"After the expedition and many discussions with specialists on the topic, we have now realized that we by accident actually discovered the world's most northerly island."

Rasch said that it was not a big deal from a scientific perspective, however, from a personal perspective  "it is, of course, somehow funny to be among those six people ever on earth who have had muddy boots at the most northerly point in the world."