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Introduction
Polar exploration is the process of exploration of the polar regions of Earth – the Arctic region and Antarctica – particularly with the goal of reaching the North Pole and South Pole, respectively. Historically, this was accomplished by explorers making often arduous travels on foot or by sled in these regions, known as a polar expedition. More recently, exploration has been accomplished with technology, particularly with satellite imagery.
From 600 BC to 300 BC, Greek philosophers theorized that the planet was a Spherical Earth with North and South polar regions. By 150 AD, Ptolemy published Geographia, which notes a hypothetical Terra Australis Incognita. However, due to harsh weather conditions, the poles themselves would not be reached for centuries after that. When they finally were reached, the achievement was realized only a few years apart. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, KCB (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was an Irish naval officer and explorer. (Full article...) -
Image 2Aviaarktika was a Soviet airline which started operations on 1 September 1930 and was absorbed by Aeroflot on 3 January 1960. (Full article...)
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Image 3
William Speirs Bruce FRSE (1 August 1867 – 28 October 1921) was a British naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE, 1902–04) to the South Orkney Islands and the Weddell Sea. Among other achievements, the expedition established the first permanent weather station in Antarctica. Bruce later founded the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory in Edinburgh, but his plans for a transcontinental Antarctic march via the South Pole were abandoned because of lack of public and financial support.
In 1892 Bruce gave up his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh and joined the Dundee Whaling Expedition to Antarctica as a scientific assistant. This was followed by Arctic voyages to Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land. In 1899 Bruce, by then Britain's most experienced polar scientist, applied for a post on Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition, but delays over this appointment and clashes with Royal Geographical Society (RGS) president Sir Clements Markham led him instead to organise his own expedition, and earned him the permanent enmity of the geographical establishment in London. Although Bruce received various awards for his polar work, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen, neither he nor any of his SNAE colleagues were recommended by the RGS for the prestigious Polar Medal. (Full article...) -
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Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (Russian: Гео́ргий Я́ковлевич Седо́в; 5 May [O.S. 23 April] 1877 – 5 March [O.S. 20 February] 1914) was a Russian Arctic explorer.
Sedov was born in the village of Krivaya Kosa of Taganrog district (now Novoazovskyi Raion, Donetsk Oblast) to a fisherman's family. In 1898, he finished navigation courses in Rostov-on-Don and acquired the rank of long voyage navigator. In 1901, he took an external degree at a naval college, passed all the exams, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. (Full article...) -
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Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup (31 October 1854, in Bindal, Helgeland – 26 November 1930) was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer. (Full article...) -
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Vladimir Yulyevich Wiese (Russian: Владимир Юльевич Визе; 5 March 1886 – 19 February 1954) was a Russian scientist of German descent who devoted his life to the study of the Arctic ice pack. His name is associated with the Scientific Prediction of Ice Conditions theory. Wiese was a member of the Soviet Arctic Institute and an authority on polar oceanography. He was also the founder of the Geographico-hydrological School of Oceanography. (Full article...) -
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Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Колча́к; 16 November [O.S. 4 November] 1874 – 7 February 1920) was a Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who held the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia from 1918 to 1920 during the Russian Civil War, though his actual control over Russian territory was limited. Previously, he served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.
Early in the civil war, Kolchak briefly served as the minister of war and navy in the Provisional All-Russian Government until a November 1918 coup saw him installed as leader and all authority was transferred to his own government. His authority was eventually recognized by the other leaders of the White movement, and he served as its principal leader, although Anton Denikin enjoyed more power than Kolchak. His government was based in Omsk, in southwestern Siberia. (Full article...) -
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Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Mawson was born in England and was brought to Australia as an infant. He completed degrees in mining engineering and geology at the University of Sydney. In 1905 he was made a lecturer in petrology and mineralogy at the University of Adelaide. Mawson's first experience in the Antarctic came as a member of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition (1907–1909), alongside his mentor Edgeworth David. They were part of the expedition's northern party, which became the first to attain the South Magnetic Pole and to climb Mount Erebus. (Full article...) -
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Henry Asbjørn Larsen (September 30, 1899 – October 29, 1964) was a Norwegian-Canadian Arctic explorer. Larsen was born on a small island, Herføl, south of Fredrikstad in Norway. Like his hero, Roald Amundsen, he became a seaman. Larsen immigrated to Canada, and became a British subject in 1927 (Canadian citizen in 1947). In 1928, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). (Full article...) -
Image 10James Booth Lockwood (October 9, 1852 – April 9, 1884) was a United States Army officer and arctic explorer. (Full article...)
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Image 11Fyodor Alekseyevich Minin (Russian: Федор Алексеевич Минин) (ca. 1709 - after 1742) was a Russian Arctic explorer.
In 1730s, Minin participated in the Second Kamchatka expedition. On January 7, 1736, he joined the unit led by Dmitry Ovtsyn. In 1738, he was in charge of a group of explorers, that would chart the Arctic Ocean coastline east of the Yenisei river. In 1738–1740, Minin made an attempt to go around the Taimyr Peninsula from the north and reached 75°15'N. Together with Dmitry Sterlegov, he mapped this part of the Arctic Ocean coastline. (Full article...) -
Image 12Mercator Cooper (September 29, 1803 – March 23 or April 24, 1872) was a ship's captain who is credited with the first formal American visit near Edo (now Tokyo), Japan and the first formal landing on the mainland East Antarctica.
Both events occurred while sailing ships out of Sag Harbor, New York. (Full article...) -
Image 13James Hall (d. 1612) was an English explorer. In Denmark, he was known as Jacob Hald. Born in Hull, he piloted three of King Christian IV's Expeditions to Greenland under John Cunningham (1605), Godske Lindenov (1606), and Carsten Richardson (1607). In his first voyage he charted the west coast of Greenland as far north as 68° 35' N. The discovery of silver resulted in larger expeditions being sent the following two years, both of which were expensive failures.
In 1612 Hall again went to Greenland, this time in search of the Northwest Passage. He had two English ships under his command, the 140-ton Patience and the 60-ton Heart's-Ease. William Baffin served as his chief pilot. On 12 or 22 July, he encountered Inuit in Amerdloq Fjord. Angry over the seizure of several Inuit by Cunningham in 1605, one of them struck Hall with a spear; he died the following day. (Full article...) -
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Thomas Abernethy (1803 – 13 April 1860) was a Scottish seafarer, gunner in the Royal Navy, and polar explorer. Because he was neither an officer nor a gentleman, he was little mentioned in the books written by the leaders of the expeditions he went on, but was praised in what was written. In 1857, he was awarded the Arctic Medal for his service as an able seaman on the 1824–25 voyage of HMS Hecla, the first of his five expeditions for which participants were eligible for the award. He was in parties that, for their time, reached the furthest north, the furthest south (twice), and the nearest to the South Magnetic Pole. In 1831, along with James Clark Ross's team of six, Abernethy was in the first party ever to reach the North Magnetic Pole. (Full article...) -
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Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (UK: /ˈɑːmʊndsən/, US: /-məns-/; Norwegian: [ˈrùːɑɫ ˈɑ̂mʉnsən] ⓘ; 16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen began his career as a polar explorer as first mate on Adrien de Gerlache's Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899. From 1903 to 1906, he led the first expedition to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage on the sloop Gjøa. In 1909, Amundsen began planning for a South Pole expedition. He left Norway in June 1910 on the ship Fram and reached Antarctica in January 1911. His party established a camp at the Bay of Whales and a series of supply depots on the Barrier (now known as the Ross Ice Shelf) before setting out for the pole in October. The party of five, led by Amundsen, became the first to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911. (Full article...) -
Image 16Miguel Corte-Real (Portuguese pronunciation: [miˈɣɛl ˈkoɾtɨ ʁiˈal]; c. 1448 – 1502?) was a Portuguese explorer who charted about 600 miles of the coast of Labrador. In 1502, he disappeared while on an expedition and was believed to be lost at sea. (Full article...)
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Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery FRSGS (French pronunciation: [adʁijɛ̃ viktɔʁ ʒozɛf də ʒɛʁlaʃ də ɡɔmʁi]; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. (Full article...) -
Image 18John Cunningham (Danish: Hans Kønig; c. 1575 – 9 December 1651) was a Scottish nobleman, explorer, Dano-Norwegian naval captain, and Governor of Finnmark. (Full article...)
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Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (UK: /ˈɑːmʊndsən/, US: /-məns-/; Norwegian: [ˈrùːɑɫ ˈɑ̂mʉnsən] ⓘ; 16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen began his career as a polar explorer as first mate on Adrien de Gerlache's Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899. From 1903 to 1906, he led the first expedition to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage on the sloop Gjøa. In 1909, Amundsen began planning for a South Pole expedition. He left Norway in June 1910 on the ship Fram and reached Antarctica in January 1911. His party established a camp at the Bay of Whales and a series of supply depots on the Barrier (now known as the Ross Ice Shelf) before setting out for the pole in October. The party of five, led by Amundsen, became the first to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Karl Weyprecht, also spelt Carl Weyprecht, (8 September 1838 – 2 March 1881[inconsistent]) was an Austro-Hungarian explorer. He was an officer (k.u.k. Linienschiffsleutnant) in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He is most famous as an Arctic explorer, and an advocate of international cooperation for scientific polar exploration. Although he did not live to see it occur, he is associated with the organisation of the first International Polar Year.
In 1852, he studied at Gymnasium in Darmstadt, but later switched to Höhere Gewerbeschule Darmstadt, now the Technische Universität Darmstadt. (Full article...) -
Image 21The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first expedition to make a longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport. British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes led a team, including Oliver Shepard and Charles R. Burton, that attempted to follow the Greenwich meridian over both land and water. They began in Greenwich in the United Kingdom in September 1979 and travelled south, arriving at the South Pole on 15 December 1980. Over the next 14 months, they travelled north, reaching the North Pole on 11 April 1982. Travelling south once more, they arrived again in Greenwich on 29 August 1982. It required traversing both of the poles and the use of boats in some places. Oliver Shepard took part in the Antarctic leg of the expedition. Ginny Fiennes handled all communications between the land team and their support, and ran the polar bases. (Full article...)
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Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored the northern extremes since 325 BC, when the ancient Greek sailor Pytheas reached a frozen sea while attempting to find a source of the metal tin. Dangerous oceans and poor weather conditions often fetter explorers attempting to reach polar regions, and journeying through these perils by sight, boat, and foot has proven difficult. (Full article...) -
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Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin (Russian: Владимир Иванович Воронин; October 17, 1890 – October 18, 1952) was a Soviet Navy captain, born in Sumsky Posad, in the present Republic of Karelia, Russia. In 1932 he commanded the expedition of the Soviet icebreaker A. Sibiryakov which made the first successful crossing of the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation without wintering. This voyage was organized by the All-Union Arctic Institute (presently known as the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute). (Full article...) -
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Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.
Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school. He made his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II and was wounded in an accident. Prior to the Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. (Full article...) -
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Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (/ˈræsmʊsən/; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies) and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit. (Full article...)
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Image 1Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting at the South Pole (from Polar exploration)
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