Great navigators, rock climbers, pioneers and explorers of lands where no man had gone before - world-famous travelers whose names are immortalized in geographical names objects they touched first. From RuTraveller - an interesting selection of such places.
Mount Cook, also known as Aoraki, is located in the western part of the south island of New Zealand. This mountain in the New Zealand Southern Alps is highest point country, its height is 3754 meters.
Named after James Cook, the mountain is covered in snow and glaciers and is shaped like a saddle with steep sides.
In October 1953, the Mount Cook area became a National Park, comprising several reserves aimed at protecting rare native vegetation and preserving the unique landscape.
Among the fauna representatives in the park you can meet kea birds - the only alpine parrot, wagtails and pipits.
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. Located between north coast Siberia in the south, the Taimyr Peninsula, the Severnaya Zemlya islands in the west and the New Siberian Islands in the east.
The sea is named after Russian polar explorers - cousins Dmitry and Khariton Laptev. In the past it was known as different names, the last of which is the Nordenskiöld Sea. The sea has a harsh climate with temperatures below 0°C for more than nine months of the year, low salinity, sparse flora and fauna, and low population along the coast. Most of the time, with the exception of August and September, it is under ice.
For thousands of years, the sea coast was inhabited by the indigenous tribes of the Yukaghirs, and later the Evens and Evenks, who were engaged in fishing, hunting and nomadic reindeer herding. Then the shores were inhabited by Yakuts and Russians. The development of the territory by Russian explorers began in the 17th century from the south, along the beds of rivers flowing into the sea.
There are several dozen islands in the Laptev Sea, many of which contain well-preserved remains of mammoths. The main human activities in this area are mining and navigation along the Northern Sea Route; Fishing and hunting are practiced but have no commercial importance. The largest village and port is Tiksi.
The Bering Strait is a strait between the Arctic and Pacific oceans that separates Asia (the easternmost continental point is Cape Dezhnev in Russian Chukotka) and North America (the westernmost continental point is Cape Prince of Wales in American Alaska).
The smallest width is 86 km, the smallest depth of the fairway is 36 m. The strait connects the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean) with Bering Sea(Pacific Ocean). Named in honor of the Russian navigator Vitus Bering (born in Denmark), who passed through this strait in 1728. However, the first of famous navigators in 1648, 80 years before Bering, Semyon Dezhnev passed through the strait from north to south (from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean), after whom the cape in Chukotka (the easternmost point of Asia) is named.
In the middle Bering Strait are the Diomede Islands: Ratmanov Island - larger and located to the west, and Kruzenshtern Island. According to the agreement on the sale of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands (1867), the border between Russia and the United States runs in the middle between the islands. Thus, Ratmanov Island belongs to Russia, and Kruzenshtern Island belongs to the USA. The distance between the islands is just over 4 km. The border of time zones and the international date line also pass there.
Periodically, starting from late XIX century and to this day, at the level of specialists, and sometimes even governments (mainly Russia and the USA), the feasibility and possibilities of building a tunnel or bridge across the Bering Strait to connect Chukotka with Alaska are discussed, but for various reasons, both technical and economic in nature None of the ideas have yet been brought to fruition.
Cape Dezhnev is the easternmost point of the Chukotka Peninsula of mainland Russia and Eurasia. Is an insulated flat top mountain range up to 740 m high, steeply falling to the sea. Located in the Bering Strait, connecting the Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea) with Pacific Ocean(Bering Sea).
It was first reached by the Russian expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in the fall of 1648. On the shore of the Great Chukotka Nose, which was later named Cape Dezhnev, the travelers made a stop, during which they visited the Eskimos on the islands of the strait. For the first time in history, having passed the Bering Strait (in fact, opening it) and rounded the Chukotka Peninsula, Dezhnev solved an important geographical problem. Evidence has emerged that America is an independent continent, and from Europe to China it is possible to sail the northern seas around Siberia. However, due to the lack of information about this discovery in European countries(the materials of Dezhnev’s campaigns remained in the Yakutsk fortress) the priority of the discoverer went to V.I. Bering, whose name the strait began to be called. Until the beginning of the 18th century, the cape was referred to as the Chukotka Nose, the Necessary Nose. In 1778, the English navigator James Cook put this cape on the map under the name Eastern Cape.
In 1879, the Swedish polar explorer Nordnesjöld first sailed the northeast passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and also rounded this cape. He proposed to name it after the discoverer - Cape Dezhnev. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the discovery of the cape, this proposal was accepted and, at the request of the Russian Geographical Society, Cape Vostochny in 1898 was renamed Cape Dezhnev.
Located on Cape Dezhnev locality Uelen, as well as the abandoned sea whaler village of Naukan, which was disbanded in 1958 as part of a campaign to enlarge and move settlements away from the American border. Before the eviction, about four hundred people lived in Naukan, there were thirteen clans. Currently, individual Eskimo families from Naukan live in the Chukotka villages of Uelen, Lavrentia and Lorino, as well as in the Eskimo villages of New Chaplino, Sireniki and Uelkal.
The Strait of Magellan is a strait separating continental South America and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, narrow and in some places very dangerous for navigation. The length of the strait is 575 km, the smallest depth on the fairway is 20 m. It was first crossed by Magellan in 1520 during his trip around the world, Tierra del Fuego has long been considered northern part Unknown Southern Land.
On October 21, 1520, on the day of the “Eleven Thousand Virgins” - Saint Ursula, at approximately the 52nd parallel of southern latitude, Magellan discovered a cape, which he named “Cabo Virgenes” in honor of this holiday. On November 1, All Saints' Day, a strong storm brought Magellan's ships into the bay, further navigation through which led to the strait, through which the expedition ended up in the Pacific Ocean. Magellan gave the strait the Portuguese name for the festival of All Saints - Estreito de todos os Santos, but later the Spanish king changed it, giving the Spanish name in honor of Ferdinand Magellan - Estrecho de Magallanes. From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the strait was passed by Magellan from October 21 to November 28, 1520.
Cape Chelyuskin is the most northern point Taimyr Peninsula and mainland Eurasia. Reached for the first time by the participant of the 2nd Kamchatka (Great Northern) expedition, navigator Semyon Chelyuskin, together with the Cossacks Fofanov and Gorokhov in 1742. For the 100th anniversary of the expedition, the cape was renamed by the Russian Geographical Society from Cape East-Northern to Cape Chelyuskin.
In 1878, Cape Chelyuskin was visited by the Swedish Arctic explorer Nordenskiöld, and in 1893, the Norwegian explorer Nansen was the first to circumnavigate it. In 1932, an expedition of the Arctic Institute under the leadership of Rudolf Samoilovich built a polar station on the icebreaker Semyon Dezhnev at Cape Chelyuskin. The second wintering was headed by I.D. Papanin, expanding the station to an observatory.
Currently, the station is called a radio meteorological center, where from 8 to 10 people spend the winter. A number of residential buildings and scientific pavilions were built. Some buildings are abandoned and not in use. The northernmost airfield of continental Eurasia, “Cape Chelyuskin,” is also located here, which is serviced by the Khatanga United Aviation Enterprise. All that remains of the airfield is a helipad, maintained by the military.
The climate of Cape Chelyuskin is arctic and very harsh. average temperature July and August (the warmest months) are -0.1 and -0.9C, and the average minimum is always below zero.
The Chichagov Islands are a group consisting of two uninhabited islands. It is located in the Primorsky district Arkhangelsk region Russia and is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Washed Barents Sea. Named in honor of Pavel Chichagov, Arctic explorer and son of Admiral Vasily Chichagov.
The group occupies northern part Franz Josef Land. It is located two kilometers from Cape Feldera, which is the western end of Charles Alexander Island, and five kilometers from the Pontremoli island group.
The shape of the southern island is elongated, its length is approximately 700 meters. The length of the northern island is approximately 400 meters. All territories are ice-free; there are no high elevations. The islands are covered with rocky areas.
The Drake Passage is a strait that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, washing the islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in the north, and the South Shetland Islands, which belong to Antarctica, in the south.
It is the widest strait on Earth: the width of its narrowest part is more than 800 km. The strongest “Western Wind Current” passes through the strait. Due to this, very strong storms are common in the waters of the strait: wind speeds reach 40 m/s, and wave heights up to 15 m. Drifting ice is found in the waters of the strait.
The strait contains the southernmost point of the South American continent and the American continent - the Diego Ramirez Islands, as well as the legendary Cape Horn. The strait got its name in honor of the navigator and pirate, the Englishman F. Drake, who passed here in 1578.
Today, the city is one of the most important tourist centers countries. Having experienced decline due to the closure of many textile industry enterprises, today the city is being revived thanks to the influx of numerous tourists. Attracts travelers from all over the world national park Mosi-ao-Tunya and Victoria Falls. In addition, the city has several museums, of which the Railway Museum is of particular interest. The city has a developed tourism infrastructure: shops, hotels, entertainment centers. Many local tour operators offer activities related to active recreation: elephant safari, river cruises, ATV riding, rafting, kayaking, mountaineering.
They are always attracted by the horizon line, an endless strip stretching into the distance. Their faithful friends are ribbons of roads leading to the unknown, mysterious and mysterious. They were the first to push the boundaries, opening new lands and the amazing beauty of metrics to humanity. These people are the most famous travelers.
Travelers who made the most important discoveries
Christopher Columbus. He was a red-haired guy with a strong build and slightly above average height. Since childhood, he was smart, practical, and very proud. He had a dream - to go on a journey and find a treasure of gold coins. And he made his dreams come true. He found a treasure - a huge continent - America.Three quarters of Columbus's life was spent sailing. He traveled on Portuguese ships and lived in Lisbon and the British Isles. Stopping briefly in a foreign land, he constantly drew geographic Maps, made new travel plans.
It still remains a mystery how he managed to draw up a plan for the shortest route from Europe to India. His calculations were based on the discoveries of the 15th century and the fact that the Earth is spherical.
Having gathered 90 volunteers in 1492-1493, he set off on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean on three ships. He became the discoverer of the central part of the Bahamas archipelago, the Greater and Lesser Antilles. He is responsible for the discovery of the north- east coast Cubes.
The second expedition, which lasted from 1493 to 1496, already consisted of 17 ships and 2.5 thousand people. He discovered the islands of Dominica, Small Antilles, island of Puerto Rico. After 40 days of sailing, arriving in Castile, he notified the government of the opening of a new route to Asia.
After 3 years, having assembled 6 ships, he led an expedition across the Atlantic. In Haiti, because of an envious denunciation of his successes, Columbus was arrested and shackled. He received release, but kept the shackles all his life, as a symbol of betrayal.
He was the discoverer of America. Until the end of his life, he mistakenly believed that it was connected to Asia by a thin isthmus. He believed that the sea route to India was opened by him, although history later showed the fallacy of his delusions.
Vasco da Gama. He was lucky enough to live during the era of great geographical discoveries. Perhaps that is why he dreamed of traveling and dreamed of becoming a discoverer of uncharted lands.
He was a nobleman. The family was not the most noble, but had ancient roots. As a young man, he became interested in mathematics, navigation and astronomy. Since childhood, he hated secular society, playing the piano and French, which noble nobles tried to “show off” with.
Determination and organizational skills made Vasco da Gama close to Emperor Charles VIII, who, having decided to create an expedition to open a sea route to India, appointed him in charge.
Four new ships, specially built for the journey, were placed at his disposal. Vasco da Gama was equipped with the latest navigational instruments and provided naval artillery.
A year later, the expedition reached the shores of India, stopping in the first city of Calicut (Kozhikode). Despite the cold reception of the natives and even military clashes, the goal was achieved. Vasco da Gama became a discoverer sea route to India.
They discovered the mountainous and desert regions of Asia, made bold expeditions to the Far North, they “wrote” history, glorifying the Russian land.
Great Russian travelers
Miklouho-Maclay was born into a noble family, but experienced poverty at the age of 11 when his father died. He was always a rebel. At the age of 15, he was arrested for participating in a student demonstration and imprisoned for three days in the Peter and Paul Fortress. For participating in student unrest, he was expelled from the gymnasium and further prohibited from entering any higher institution. Having left for Germany, he received his education there. 
The famous naturalist Ernst Haeckel became interested in the 19-year-old boy, inviting him to his expedition to study marine fauna.
In 1869, returning to St. Petersburg, he enlisted the support of the Russian Geographical Society and went to study New Guinea. It took a year to prepare the expedition. He sailed to the shore of the Coral Sea, and when he set foot on land he had no idea that his descendants would name this place after him.
Having lived for more than a year in New Guinea, he not only discovered new lands, but also taught the natives to grow corn, pumpkins, beans and fruit trees. He studied the life of the natives on the island of Java, the Louisiades and Solomon Islands. He spent 3 years in Australia.
He died at 42. Doctors diagnosed him with severe deterioration of the body.
Afanasy Nikitin is the first Russian traveler to visit India and Persia. Returning back, he visited Somalia, Turkey and Muscat. His notes “Walking across the Three Seas” became valuable historical and literary aids. He described medieval India simply and truthfully in his notes.
Coming from a peasant family, he proved that even a poor person can travel to India. The main thing is to set a goal.
The world has not revealed all its secrets to man. There are still people who dream of lifting the veil of unknown worlds.
Famous modern travelers
He is 60, but his soul is still full of thirst for new adventures. At the age of 58, he climbed to the top of Everest and conquered 7 of the greatest peaks together with climbers. He is fearless, purposeful, open to the unknown. His name is Fedor Konyukhov.And may the era of great discoveries be long behind us. It doesn't matter that the Earth has been photographed thousands of times from space. Let travelers and discoverers discover all the places on the globe. He, like a child, believes that there is still a lot of unknown in the world.
He has 40 expeditions and ascents to his credit. He crossed seas and oceans, was at the North and South Poles, completed 4 circumnavigations of the world, and crossed the Atlantic 15 times. Of these, one time was on a rowing boat. He made most of his travels alone.
Everyone knows his name. His programs had a television audience of millions. He is the great man who gave this world the unusual beauty of nature, hidden from view in the bottomless depths. Fedor Konyukhov visited different places on our planet, including the hottest place in Russia, which is located in Kalmykia. The website features Jacques-Yves Cousteau, perhaps the most famous traveler in the world
Even during the war, he continued his experiments and research into the underwater world. He decided to dedicate his first film to sunken ships. And the Germans, who occupied France, allowed him to engage in research and filming.
He dreamed of a ship that would be equipped with modern technology for filming and observation. He was helped by a complete stranger who gave Cousteau a small military minesweeper. After renovation work, it became the famous ship "Calypso".
The ship's crew included researchers: a journalist, a navigator, a geologist, and a volcanologist. His wife was his assistant and companion. Later, 2 of his sons took part in all expeditions.
Cousteau recognized the best specialist underwater research. He received an offer to head the famous Oceanographic Museum in Monaco. He not only studied the underwater world, but was also involved in activities to protect the marine and ocean habitat.
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Afanasy Nikitin is a Russian traveler, Tver merchant and writer. Traveled from Tvrea to Persia and India (1468-1474). On the way back I visited the African coast (Somalia), Muscat and Turkey. Nikitin’s travel notes “Walking across Three Seas” are a valuable literary and historical monument. Marked by the versatility of his observations, as well as his religious tolerance, unusual for the Middle Ages, combined with devotion to the Christian faith and his native land.
Semyon Dezhnev (1605 -1673)
An outstanding Russian navigator, explorer, traveler, explorer of Northern and Eastern Siberia. In 1648, Dezhnev was the first among the famous European navigators (80 years earlier than Vitus Bering) to navigate the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska from Chukotka. A Cossack ataman and fur trader, Dezhnev actively participated in the development of Siberia (Dezhnev himself married a Yakut woman, Abakayada Syuchyu).
Grigory Shelikhov (1747 - 1795)
Russian industrialist who carried out geographical studies northern islands Pacific Ocean and Alaska. Founded the first settlements in Russian America. The strait between the island is named after him. Kodiak and the North American continent, a bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, a city in Irkutsk region and a volcano in the Kuril Islands. The remarkable Russian merchant, geographer and traveler, nicknamed by G. R. Derzhavin “Russian Columbus”, was born in 1747 in the city of Rylsk, Kursk province, into a bourgeois family. Overcoming the space from Irkutsk to the Lama (Okhotsk) Sea became his first journey. In 1781, Shelikhov created the North-East Company, which in 1799 was transformed into the Russian-American Trading Company.
Dmitry Ovtsyn (1704 - 1757)
Russian hydrographer and traveler, led the second of the detachments of the Great Northern Expedition. He made the first hydrographic inventory of the Siberian coast between the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei. Discovered the Gydan Bay and the Gydan Peninsula. Participated in the last voyage of Vitus Bering to the shores of North America. A cape and an island in the Yenisei Bay bear his name. Dmitry Leontyevich Ovtsyn had been in the Russian fleet since 1726, took part in the first voyage of Vitus Bering to the shores of Kamchatka, and by the time the expedition was organized he had risen to the rank of lieutenant. The significance of Ovtsyn’s expedition, as well as the rest of the detachments of the Great Northern Expedition, is extremely great. Based on the inventories compiled by Ovtsyn, maps of the places he explored were prepared until the beginning of the 20th century.
Ivan Krusenstern (1770 - 1846)
Russian navigator, admiral, led the first Russian round-the-world expedition. For the first time he mapped most of the coastline of the island. Sakhalin. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. The strait in the northern part bears his name Kuril Islands, passage between o. Tsushima and the islands of Iki and Okinoshima in the Korea Strait, islands in the Bering Strait and the Tuamotu archipelago, a mountain on Novaya Zemlya. On June 26, 1803, the ships Neva and Nadezhda left Kronstadt and headed for the shores of Brazil. This was the first passage of Russian ships to the southern hemisphere. On August 19, 1806, while staying in Copenhagen, the Russian ship was visited by a Danish prince who wished to meet with Russian sailors and listen to their stories. The first Russian circumnavigation was of great scientific and practical importance and attracted the attention of the whole world. Russian navigators corrected in many points english maps, considered then the most accurate.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen (1778 - 1852)
Thaddeus Bellingshausen is a Russian navigator, participant in the first Russian circumnavigation of I. F. Kruzenshtern. Leader of the first Russian Antarctic expedition to discover Antarctica. Admiral. The sea off the coast of Antarctica, an underwater basin between the continental slopes of Antarctica and South America, islands in the Pacific, Atlantic Oceans and the Aral Sea, the first Soviet polar station on the island. King George in the South Shetland Islands archipelago. The future discoverer of the southern polar continent was born on September 20, 1778 on the island of Ezel near the city of Arensburg in Livonia (Estonia).
Fyodor Litke (1797-1882)
Fyodor Litke - Russian navigator and geographer, count and admiral. Leader of the round-the-world expedition and research on Novaya Zemlya and the Barents Sea. Discovered two groups of islands in the Caroline chain. One of the founders and leaders of the Russian Geographical Society. Litke's name is given to 15 points on the map. Litke led the nineteenth Russian round-the-world expedition for hydrographic studies of little-known areas of the Pacific Ocean. Litke's journey was one of the most successful in Russian history circumnavigation of the world and was of great scientific importance. The exact coordinates of the main points of Kamchatka were determined, the islands were described - Caroline, Karaginsky, etc., the Chukotka coast from Cape Dezhnev to the mouth of the river. Anadyr. The discoveries were so important that Germany and France, arguing over the Caroline Islands, turned to Litke for advice on their location.
Every person dreams of perpetuating his last name or first name. It was quite easy for travelers and ancient sailors to do this; the objects they discovered were named in their honor. Nowadays it is much more difficult with such discoveries. Some people are even willing to pay money to have a distant star named after them. Two continents were named in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, the country of Colombia was named in honor of Christopher Columbus, and the Marshall Islands are named after John Marshall.
Geographical features named after travelers
Various geographical features received their names in honor of famous travelers and researchers. There are a lot of geographical objects on our planet bearing the names of travelers, in particular:
For the most part, all geographical objects that bear the name of travelers, their explorers, are located in hard-to-reach places. Where Europeans have lived for a long time and have always had the opportunity to explore this object, they have much more interesting names. But near the poles, almost every significant geographical feature bears someone's first or last name.
But personally, I’m also interested in the fact that the people of our country really want to immortalize themselves and therefore, at the slightest opportunity, they leave rock inscriptions “I was here...”. For me, this method is unacceptable. I believe that we need to look for other ways to leave a mark on history.
Drake Strait and Lisyansky Island, Cape Chelyuskin and Livingston Falls, Australian Tasmania and Hudson Bay... Naming the places where ships of legendary travelers ended up many years ago, we will admire the daredevils who left their names on geographical maps for centuries.
Wrangel Island
Flag Russian Empire The crew of the icebreaker "Vaigach" lifted it over the island in 1911. However, it was not Russian polar explorers who discovered it, but the British explorer Henry Kellett, who passed by on a ship in 1849 but did not land on shore. The island received its name in honor of Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel - admiral, navigator, polar explorer, who studied the northeastern coast of Siberia and West Coast North America from the Bering Strait to California, was the ruler of Russian America and actively opposed the sale of Alaska to the United States.
Wrangel Island, lost in reality far north, in the Arctic Ocean, has been under the protection of UNESCO since 2004. The last ice age bypassed it, so today there are more rare animals and plants here than on any other Arctic island in the world. Even willows grow here, although they are dwarf, no more than a meter tall. Its real owners are walruses, polar bears and geese. Scientists claim that it is on these shores that one of the largest walrus rookeries in the Arctic is located - up to 130 thousand individuals. On Wrangel itself and the neighboring tiny Gerald there is the largest number of “maternity” dens of polar bears in the world - from 300 to 500.
Strait of Magellan
In 1520, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan made several geographical discoveries. The first and most important of these was the discovery of a 575-kilometer strait between the islands off the southern tip of South America and the mainland itself. The search for the strait took a lot of time: Magellan studied more than two thousand kilometers of coastline, looking for the treasured sea corridor among endless bays and bays. Before setting up for the “winter,” Magellan mistook the mouth of the La Plata River for a strait, but soon realized that he was mistaken.
Only months later, Magellan's flotilla found itself at a narrow strait that led inland. The ships completed it in 38 days, and the Portuguese did not lose a single ship during this difficult journey. Having explored the strait, Magellan also discovered the archipelago Tierra del Fuego, and also gave the name to the ocean in which he found himself - Quiet (the voyage took place in good weather).
Mount Fitzroy
British naval officer Robert Fitzroy went down in history as an explorer of inhospitable southern shores Latin America, and also as the person who discovered Charles Darwin to the world. It was him, a 23-year-old graduate of Cambridge University, that Fitzroy took with him on a trip around the world on the Beagle ship and allowed him to collect a huge amount of scientific material during the trip.
On December 27, 1831, the ship left Portsmouth and set sail. On board the Beagle there was a crew of 70 people, as well as three Indians, whom Fitzroy had taken to England during a previous expedition to get acquainted with civilization, and now wanted to return to their homeland. Having reached the shores of South America, the ship spent more than three years off its coast. Fitzroy did a huge amount of cartographic work, mapped numerous islands off the eastern and western coasts of the mainland, explored the Strait of Magellan and Patagonia.
It's funny that Robert Fitzroy, during his journey, never saw the mountain that today bears his name. Almost 40 years after his voyage, the Argentine traveler Francisco Moreno stumbled upon the South American peak in the wilds of Patagonia. He decided to name the picturesque 3,375-meter-high peak after the famous British explorer.
Cape Dezhnev
Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev in 1648 circumnavigated the Chukotka Peninsula from the north and proved that it was possible to get from Europe to China through the northern seas. He passed through the strait separating America from Eurasia 80 years earlier than Vitus Bering, but since little was known about Russian pioneers in the Old World then, the glory went to Bering. However, in 1879, restoring justice, the Swedish Arctic explorer Nils Nordenskiöld named the extreme eastern point of Eurasia after the Russian navigator. Until this time, the cape was called Vostochny.
Cape Dezhnev is one of the most brutal places on the Chukotka Peninsula. Here the rocks are piled one on top of the other, there is often fog and a piercing wind constantly blows. However, despite the remoteness from civilization, these places have attractions: a lighthouse named after Semyon Dezhnev and an ancient cross installed nearby, an abandoned whaling village of the 18th-20th centuries - Naukan (it was disbanded under Soviet rule). However, those who climb to these regions come to see the unique fauna: there are countless bird colonies here, there is a walrus and seal rookery, and in the spring you can see polar bears with cubs. Sometimes killer whales and gray whales swim very close to the shore.
Mount Cook
New Zealand's highest peak (3754 meters) is located on the South Island, in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. This is a land of endless valleys, glaciers, lakes and the Southern Alps (as they call mountain range, stretching from south to north). The air here is so cold and fresh that it burns your lungs. The weather is changeable: sometimes the sun shines brightly, sometimes it rains. Dozens of species of wildflowers grow in the foothills, and a few meters higher, on the mountain slopes, the ground is covered with an ice crust and a layer of snow.
The mountain is named after one of the most famous navigators who ever lived - James Cook. The English explorer visited the coast of New Zealand during his first trip around the world in 1768-1771. He opened the strait between the North and Southern Islands(bears his name) and proved that New Zealand- these are two independent pieces of land, and not part of an unknown continent.
Ratmanov Island
Ratmanov Island is located in the Bering Strait and is a large rock with a flat top covered with a cap of snow. This is the easternmost point of Russia, from where in good weather you can see the coast of Alaska. There is no special life here, except that border guards are on duty, and buffy hummingbirds that head for California fly in to stay during migration.
The name of the island has changed several times. At first it bore the name Imaklik - that’s what the Eskimos who once lived here called it. Another name is Big Diomede (“big diomede”, as the Americans say). There is also Little Diomede (or Kruzenshtern Island), it is a neighbor of Ratmanov Island and belongs to the United States. The name Diomede was given to the archipelago by Vitus Bering, who in August 1728 found himself in these parts on his boat “St. Gabriel”. 90 years later, the waters of the Bering Strait were plied by the navigator Otto Kotzebue, who decided to name Big Diomede after his colleague, naval officer Makar Ratmanov, with whom he participated in a circumnavigation.
Bering Strait
The strait through which it passes water boundary between Russia and the United States and which divides the continents of Eurasia and North America, named after Vitus Bering, a Russian naval officer of Danish origin. In the 18th century, he led two expeditions to Kamchatka and discovered several Aleutian islands. Bering was the first European navigator to pass through this strait in 1728.
The width of the strait at its narrowest point is only 86 kilometers, and desperate daredevils periodically try to overcome this distance by boat or by swimming. Most often, their plans are disrupted due to bad weather. In the summer of 2012, a disabled French athlete without arms and legs, Philippe Croizon, swam a 4-kilometer section of the strait between Kruzenshtern Island and Ratmanov Island.
Drake Passage
The strait connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean is the widest on Earth. Even its narrow part is more than 800 kilometers. In the north it washes the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in the south it borders on Antarctica, more precisely on the South Shetland Islands. This strait was discovered by the famous English pirate Francis Drake. It was he who first sailed through it in 1578 on the ship “Golden Hind,” thus making the second trip around the world after Magellan.
The Drake Passage is a very dangerous place for sailors; it is replete with whirlpools, bad weather often rages there and strong storms occur. To defeat him, you have to be very brave. Such, for example, as Fedor Konyukhov. In 2010 Russian traveler at the head of a round-the-world expedition, he sailed through it for the sixth time.
Hudson Bay
This huge area of water in northern Canada is called the Canadian Inland Sea due to the fact that the bay extends deep into the country. It is noteworthy that Hudson Bay belongs to both the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic.
Sebastian Cabot was the first to visit here at the beginning of the 16th century. One hundred years later, in 1611, the bay was rediscovered by Henry Hudson under tragic circumstances. Having set off on another expedition in search of a northern route to Asia, Hudson encountered a riot on the ship. The sailors took possession of the ship and turned back, and he, his son and other crew members, who probably supported Hudson, were put on a rowing boat, leaving them no supplies. Nothing more is known about the fate of the legendary navigator. It is believed that he disappeared on the icy expanses of the bay, deservedly named after him.
Lisyansky Island
This little one pacific island in the north-west of the Hawaiian archipelago was discovered during Ivan Kruzenshtern's trip around the world in 1805. They named it in honor of the captain of the sloop “Neva” Fyodor Lisyansky, who participated in the expedition. Until the beginning of the 20th century, guano, a fertilizer made from droppings, was mined here. Since 1909, the island, on the initiative of Theodore Roosevelt, has become part of the Hawaiian Bird Sanctuary.
Not far from Lisyansky Island there is a giant coral reef with an area of 979 square kilometers called “Neva Shoals”, or “Neva Shoals”, which received its name because of the ship “Neva” on which Lisyansky and his crew sailed. They were the first to discover this reef, stumbling upon it and miraculously not breaking. It is here, in the Neva Shoals area, that you can see the most beautiful coral colonies, for which the reef is called a “coral garden.”
Thaddeus Islands
Thaddeus Islands are named after the discoverer of Antarctica Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen. They are located off the eastern coast of the Taimyr Peninsula. This group of islands was discovered in 1736 by members of the Great Northern Expedition, or more precisely, by the detachment of Vasily Pronchishchev, a Russian polar explorer. They moved on a wooden ship along northeast coast Taimyr, risking getting stuck in the ice, and compiled a description coastline. His wife Tatyana also traveled with Pronchishchev. True, unofficially. However, she became the first female participant in Arctic expeditions.
There is a version that the islands were found much earlier, in 1689, when Ivan Tolstoukhov, the first explorer of Taimyr, went to study these regions. However, his ship was crushed by ice. According to scientists, people then landed on the Thaddeus Islands, having managed to save the most valuable and necessary things from the ship. From the islands they frozen sea moved to the mainland, where they built a hut from driftwood. But none of the participants in the Tolstukhovo expedition could survive. That is why nothing was known about the islands before Pronchishchev’s campaign.
Cape Chelyuskin
Man first reached Cape Chelyuskin in 1742. Then the expedition led by Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin named the cape East-Northern. It took place as part of the Great Northern Expedition, which was approved by the Admiralty Board, which believed that it was necessary to explore in detail the north of Russia from Pechora to Chukotka and make a description of those places. In honor of Semyon Chelyuskin, a polar navigator and explorer of the north of Russia, the cape was named already in 1842, when the centenary of his expedition was celebrated.
The northernmost point of the Taimyr Peninsula has a harsh climate. Winter here lasts all year round, the snow practically never melts, and the temperature in July and August usually does not exceed +1C°. In 1932, a polar station was established on the cape, to which an observatory was later added. Now the station has been transferred to meteorological status. About 10 people constantly spend the winter there. Communication with the mainland and civilization is provided by the Cape Chelyuskin airfield with a helipad.
Livingston Falls
Livingston Falls is a system of rapids and waterfalls stretching for 350 kilometers on the Congo River in its lower reaches. This cascading water fall system is considered the largest in the world in terms of water flow per second. The river level difference here is 270 meters.
The waterfalls end in the main seaport Republic of the Congo - Matadi, which was founded by the English journalist, traveler, and African explorer Henry Morton Stanley. He also named the waterfalls he found in the Congo in honor of David Livingston, a Scotsman and outstanding explorer of Africa. Having spent most of his life on this continent, Livingston walked along it for a total of about 50 thousand kilometers! It is curious that he never saw the system of rapids discovered by Stanley, since he studied only the upper reaches of the Congo.
The most visited of the entire Livingston water cascade system is the Inga Falls, 96 meters high. Helicopter tours are organized here, and especially daring people can cross the rapids in the Congo on kayaks, canoes and even rafts. You can also take part in guided walking routes that recreate the path of Henry Morton Stanley, but this requires good physical fitness and appropriate equipment.
Tasmania Island
The island of Tasmania, located off the coast of Australia, was discovered by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman back in 1642. True, the sailors did not go ashore then, but after walking a few miles, they turned east and a few days later found themselves off the coast of New Zealand. Here their first and, moreover, bloody meeting with the Maori aborigines took place, during which several sailors died. The expedition continued, and the islands of Fiji and Tonga were soon discovered. However, the leadership of the East India Company recognized the expedition as unsuccessful, since new trade routes were not found. And Australia, New Zealand and the island of Tasmania were forgotten for another 100 years. Until the famous navigator James Cook reached these southern lands. The island received its present name almost 200 years later, in 1856.
Today, a good half of the island of Tasmania is a protected area with national parks and fields where opium is legally grown for the pharmaceutical industry. There are hundreds of stories about strangely behaving birds and dancing kangaroos, but one thing is clear - poppy fields It is very beautiful here in any weather.
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