Wrangel Island(redirected from Vrangel Island)Also found in: Encyclopedia. Wran·gel Island(răng′gəl, vrăn′gyĭl) An island of northeast Russia in the Arctic Ocean northwest of the Bering Strait. It is named in honor of Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel (1796-1870), a Russian explorer who made an unsuccessful attempt to locate the island (1820-1824). (Placename) an island in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of the extreme NE of Russia: administratively part of Russia; mountainous and mostly tundra. Area: about 7300 sq km (2800 sq miles)