Russian Consulate in Cape Town

#OTD, 206 years ago, Russian Seafarers discovered Antarctica! 28 Jan 1820 went down in history as the day of discovery of the sixth continent – Antarctica, and its honour belongs to Russian circumnavigation expedition under command of Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. 🧊Antarctica is the Earth’s most mysterious continent. More than 14 mln square kilometers that has not been fully researched. Portuguese and Dutch expeditions had been trying to find the Icy Continent since XV century. English navigator James Cook came the closest to it, but his expedition couldn’t get through ice southerly than 71 degrees 10 minutes south latitude. 💭 “The risk one runs in exploring a coast in these unknown and Icy Seas, is so very great, that I can be bold to say, that no man will ever venture farther than I have done and that the lands which may lie to the South will never be explored”, wrote J.Cook after the voyage of 1772 – 1775. The Russian expedition to the southern continent was arranged half a century later under the Emperor Alexander I’s patronage. Sloops “Vostok” (“East”) and “Mirny” (“Peaceful”) led by F.Bellingshausen and M.Lazarev after a long and careful preparation sailed off from Kronstadt in early June 1819 and after a half-year voyage reached the icy shores. ✨On 28 January 1820 the Russian seafarers reached the 69th degree 25 minutes line south latitude and for the first time in history came to the Antarctica ice shelves. “We saw solid ice stretching from the east westwards through the south, with our route leading straight to that ice field all covered with knolls”, noted F.Bellingshausen. The participants of the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition spent 751 days in navigation, sailed more than 92,000 kilometers. They discovered 29 islands and 1 coral reef. The research materials gathered by the expedition formed the first view of Antarctica. 🇷🇺 Today, Russia is an active party to the Antarctic Treaty, signed on December 1, 1959. The Russian Foreign Policy concept emphasizes the country’s enduring commitment to preserving and further developing the Antarctic Treaty System. 🐧Russia also carries out scientific research in Antarctica. The Russian Antarctic Expedition, managed by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), operates five year-round research stations on the continent: Novolazarevskaya, Bellingshausen, Mirny, Progress, and Vostok. During the summer, additional research is conducted at seasonal field bases, including Molodyozhnaya, Druzhnaya-4, Bunger Oasis, Russkaya, and Leningradskaya. #RussiansInAntarctica