Matochkin Strait or
Matochkin Shar is a
strait between the
Severny and
Yuzhny 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 approximately and its width in its narrowest part is approximately . The strait is covered with ice for the most of the year. There are fishing settlements along the strait (Matochkin Shar, Stolbovoy).