Updated:15.10.2003

Part of the Arctic Ocean, c.250,900 sq mi (649,800 sq km), Northern Siberia, between the Taimyr Peninsula and the New Siberian Islands. It is shallow sea and is frozen for most of the year.

The Lena River empties into it through an extensive delta. The Laptev Sea, part of the Northern Sea Route, is navigable only during August and September; Tiksi and Nordvik are the chief ports.

Formerly called the Nordenskjold Sea for the Swedish explorer Nils Adolf Nordenskjold, it was renamed in honour of Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, two Russian arctic explorers of the second Bering expedition.