Arctic Expedition
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

This list of Arctic expeditions is a timeline of historic
Arctic exploration 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 ...
and explorers of the
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
.


15th century

* 1472:
Didrik Pining Didrik Pining ( 1430 – 1491) was a German privateer, nobleman, and governor of Iceland and Vardøhus. In 1925, researcher Sofus Larson proposed that Pining may have landed in North America in the 1470s, almost twenty years before Columbus' v ...
and Hans Pothorst mark the first of the
cartographic expeditions to Greenland This is a list of recognised pioneering expeditions to Greenland that contributed to the cartography of the territory. See also * Geography of Greenland Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northea ...
* 1496: , venturing out of the White Sea, travels along the
Murman Coast The Murman Coast (, ) is a coastal area in Murmansk Oblast in northwest Russia. It is located on the southern side of the Barents Sea, between the Norway–Russia border and Cape Svyatoy Nos. The major rivers flowing to the sea at the coast are ...
and the coast of northern Norway


16th century

* 1553: English expedition led by
Hugh Willoughby Sir Hugh Willoughby (fl. 1544; died 1554) was an English soldier and an early Arctic voyager. He served in the court of and fought in the Scottish campaign where he was knighted for his valour. In 1553, he was selected by a company of London ...
with
Richard Chancellor Richard Chancellor ( – ) was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish Anglo-Russian relations, relations with the Tsardom of Russia. Life Chancellor, a native of Bristol, was brought up in the ...
as second in command searches for the
Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...
* 1557: English expedition led by
Stephen Borough Steven Borough (25 September 1525 – 12 July 1584) was an English navigator and an early Arctic explorer. He was master of the first English ship to reach the White Sea in 1553 and open trade with Russia on behalf of the Muscovy Company. He beca ...
reaches the
Kara Strait The Kara Strait or Kara Gates () is a wide channel of water between the southern end of Novaya Zemlya and the northern tip of Vaygach Island. This strait connects the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea in northern Russia. Hydrography and climate T ...
* 1576–1578: English expeditions led by
Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; – 22 November 1594) was an English sailor and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada, before ...
reach
Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...
* 1579: Danish-Norwegian expedition led by James Alday fails to reach Greenland due to ice * 1580: English expedition led by Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman reaches the
Kara Sea The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
* 1581: Danish-Norwegian expedition led by
Magnus Heinason Magnus Heinason (Mogens Heinesøn) (1548 – 18 January 1589) was a Faroese naval hero, trader and privateer. Magnus Heinason served William the Silent and his son Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange for 10 years as a privateer, fighting th ...
fails to reach Greenland due to ice * 1585–1587: English expeditions led by John Davis explore the
Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...
region and reach
Upernavik Kanunarinaqiniiaaq (known as Upernavik) is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,064 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...
* 1594: Dutch expedition led by
Willem Barentsz Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch Republic, Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northern Sea Route, N ...
, Cornelis Nay and Brandt Tetgales reaches the Kara Sea via
Yugorsky Strait The Yugorsky Strait or Yugor Strait (, or Yugorsky Shar) is a narrow sound between the Kara Sea and the Pechora Sea. Its maximum width is 10 km and its minimum width only 3 km. Ostrov Storozhevoy, an island 1.6 km in length, lie ...
* 1595: Dutch expedition led by Cornelis Nay fails to make further progress towards a Northeast Passage than in the previous year * 1596–1597: Dutch expedition piloted by
Willem Barentsz Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch Republic, Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northern Sea Route, N ...
discovers
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
and registered the first recorded
Farthest North Farthest North describes the most northerly latitude reached by explorers, before the first successful expedition to the North Pole rendered the expression obsolete. The Arctic polar regions are much more accessible than those of the Antarctic, as ...


17th century

* 1605–1607: Danish-Norwegian king,
Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...
, sends three expeditions led by John Cunningham,
Godske Lindenov Godske Christoffersen Lindenov or Lindenow (d. 1612 Copenhagen) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was a commander on one of King Christian IV's expeditions to Greenland. Early life He was of the noble family Lindenov of Linders ...
and
Carsten Richardson Carsten Richardson was an early 17th-century Holsteinian- Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was the commander of King Christian IV's final expedition to Greenland. Carsten Richardson was in command of one of five ships in the 1606 exp ...
(all piloted by James Hall), to search for the lost
Eastern Settlement The Eastern Settlement ( ) was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland, settled by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from the Eastern Settl ...
, one of the Norse colonies on Greenland * 1606: John Knight, who had captained the in 1605 with John Cunningham, dies commanding a joint
Muscovy Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company; ) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major Chartered company, chartered joint-stock company, the precursor of the type of business ...
/
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
expedition in search of the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
* 1607:
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
explores Spitsbergen * 1608:
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
gets as far as Novaya Zemlya in his attempt to find the Northeast Passage * 1609: another unsuccessful attempt by
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
at finding the Northeast Passage * 1610:
Jonas Poole Jonas Poole (bap. 1566 – 1612)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). was an early 17th-century English explorer and sealer, and was significant in the history of whaling. Voyages to Bear Island, 1604-1609 He served aboard vess ...
thoroughly explores Spitsbergen's west coast, reporting that he saw a "great store of whales"; this report leads to the establishment of the English
whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
trade * 1610: Russian Kondratiy Kurochkin explores the mouth of the
Yenisei River The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...
and the adjoining coast * 1610–1611:
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
reaches
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage * 1612: James Hall and
William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is best known for his attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, during which Baffin became the first European to disc ...
explore southwest Greenland * 1612–1613: Button expedition, commanded by
Thomas Button Sir Thomas Button ( 1575 - April 1634) was a Welsh officer of the Royal Navy, notable as an explorer who in 1612–1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer Henry Hudson and to navigate the Northwest Passa ...
, in search of the Northwest Passage * 1613: Several whaling expeditions, consisting of a total of at least thirty ships from England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands crowd Spitsbergen's west coast * 1614: Dutch and French expeditions discover
Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
* 1615:
Robert Fotherby Robert Fotherby (died 1646) was an early 17th-century English explorer and whaler. From 1613 to 1615 he worked for the Muscovy Company, and from 1615 until his death for the East India Company. Family ties There was a family of Fotherbys in Gr ...
, in the pinnace ''Richard'', is the first English expedition to reach Jan Mayen * 1615: English expedition captained by
Robert Bylot Robert Bylot () was an English explorer who made four voyages to the Arctic. He was uneducated and from a working-class background, but was able to rise to rank of master in the English Royal Navy. Voyages Robert Bylot First voyage, 161 ...
and piloted by
William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is best known for his attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, during which Baffin became the first European to disc ...
reaches the
Foxe Basin Foxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. For most of the year, it is blocked by sea ice (fast ice) and drift ice made up of multiple ice floes. Th ...
in search of the Northwest Passage * 1616: English expedition captained by
Robert Bylot Robert Bylot () was an English explorer who made four voyages to the Arctic. He was uneducated and from a working-class background, but was able to rise to rank of master in the English Royal Navy. Voyages Robert Bylot First voyage, 161 ...
and piloted by
William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is best known for his attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, during which Baffin became the first European to disc ...
explores the
Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...
region * 1619–1620: Danish-Norwegian expedition led by
Jens Munk Jens Eriksen Munk (3 June 1579 – 24 June 1628) was a Danish-Norwegian navigator and explorer. He entered into the service of King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway and is most noted for his attempts to find the Northwest Passage. Early lif ...
in '' Enhiørningen'' (Unicorn) and '' Lamprenen'' (Lamprey) to discover the Northwest Passage penetrated Davis Strait as far north as 69°, found
Frobisher Bay Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about and its width varies from about at its outlet into the Davis Strait ...
, spent a winter in
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
* 1633–1634: I. Rebrov explores the mouth of the
Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...
* 1633–1635:
Ilya Perfilyev Ilya Perfilyev (Perfiryev) () (1583–1659), was a Russian explorer, polar seafarer and a founder of Verkhoyansk. In the summer of 1633 he headed a group, consisted of merchant-and-industrial people and Yenisey and Tobolsk Cossacks. In 1634 he d ...
explores the Lena and
Yana River The Yana ( rus, Я́на, p=ˈjanə; ) is a river in Sakha in Russia, located between the Lena to the west and the Indigirka to the east. Course It is long, and its drainage basin covers . Including its longest source river, the Sartang, i ...
s and intervening coast * 1638: I. Rebrov explores coast between the Lena and
Indigirka River The Indigirka (; ) is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana to the west and the Kolyma to the east. It is long. The area of its basin is . History The isolated village of Russkoye Ustye, located on the delta of the Indigi ...
s * 1641: Dimitry Zyryan and
Mikhail Stadukhin Mikhail Vasilyevich Stadukhin () (died 1666) was a Russian explorer of far northeast Siberia, one of the first to reach the Kolyma, Anadyr, Penzhina and Gizhiga Rivers and the northern Sea of Okhotsk. He was a Pomor, probably born in the village o ...
explore the mouth of the Indigirka River and adjoining coast * 1646: I. Ignatyev explores the mouth of the
Kolyma River The Kolyma (, ; ) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, b ...
and adjoining coast * 1648: Ya. Semyonov explores the mouth of
Kotuy River The Kotuy () is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is one of the two rivers that form the Khatanga; the other one being the Kheta. The Kotuy is long, and the area of its basin is . It freezes up in late September or early October and brea ...
and adjoining coast * 1648:
Semyon Dezhnev Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnyov (, ; sometimes spelled Dezhnev; March 7, 1605 – 1673) was a Russian explorer of Siberia and the first European to sail through the Bering Strait, 80 years before Vitus Bering did. In 1648 he sailed from the Kolyma Riv ...
and Fedot Alekseyevich Popov explore from the Kolyma River through the
Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...
* 1649: Mikhail Stadukhin explores the coast from the Kolyma River to the Bering Strait * 1676: English expedition led by John Wood fails to find the Northeast Passage * 1686–1687: Ivan Tolstoukhov expedition explores the mouth of the Yenisey River and the coast of the
Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...


18th century

* 1712:
Merkury Vagin Merkury Vagin (Russian: ''Меркурий Вагин'') (died 1712) was a Russian Arctic explorer. In 1712, together with Yakov Permyakov, Vagin explored the region of the eastern Laptev Sea coast. His exploration included Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Is ...
and
Yakov Permyakov Yakov Permyakov (; died 1712) was a Russian seafarer, explorer, merchant, and Cossack. In 1710, while sailing from the Lena River to the Kolyma River, Permyakov observed the silhouette of two unknown island groups in the sea. Those islands would ...
explore the vicinity of the mouth of the Yana River and adjoining coasts, both were murdered by mutineering expedition members * 1725–1730:
Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering ( , , ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (), was a Danish-born Russia ...
leads the First Kamchatka expedition * 1728:
Claus Paarss Major Claus Enevold Paarss (18 February 1683 – 26 May 1762) was a Danish military officer and official. Retired from service,Marquardt, Ole"Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy"in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Emp ...
attempts to cross Greenland's interior from the west in search of the old Norse Eastern Settlement * 1733–1743:
Second Kamchatka expedition The Great Northern Expedition () or Second Kamchatka Expedition () was a major Russian Arctic expedition between roughly 1733 and 1743, which mapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and much of the Arctic coast of North America, greatly red ...
explores the north coast of Russia and discovers
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
* 1751: Lars Dalager attempts to find the lost Eastern Settlement by crossing Greenland's ice sheet from the west * 1751–1753:
Peder Olsen Walløe Peder Olsen Walløe (1716 – 27 April 1793) was a Danish Arctic explorer most noted for his historic exploration of the former Norse settlements on Greenland. Biography Peder Olsen Walloe was born on the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm. In 1739, he ...
explores the east coast of Greenland from Cape Farewell in
umiak The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyak is a type of open skin boat, used by the Yupik peoples, Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First used in Thule people, Thule ...
s * 1760–1763: S. F. Loshkin explores
Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...
* 1765–1766:
Vasily Chichagov Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov (; ) was an admiral in the Russian Navy who distinguished himself in the Russian–Swedish War by fighting three major battles, and an explorer who researched Svalbard. He was the father of Pavel Chichagov, a Ru ...
explores the
Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...
coast and Spitzbergen * 1768–1769: F. F. Rozmyslov explores Novaya Zemlya and the
Matochkin Strait Matochkin Strait or Matochkin Shar () is a strait, structurally a fjord, between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. Geography The Matochkin Strait is one of the largest fjords in the ...
* 1770–1771:
Samuel Hearne Samuel Hearne (February 1745 – November 1792) was an English explorer, fur-trader, author and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, specifically to Coronation Gulf, vi ...
traces the
Coppermine River The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave Region, North Slave and Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, a ...
to the Arctic Ocean * 1773:
Ivan Lyakhov Ivan Lyakhov (), died around 1800, was a Russian merchant who explored large sections of the New Siberian Islands in the 18th century. Expedition Lyakhov began his explorations in the spring of 1770 on dogsleds in order to explore the islands ...
discovered
Kotelny Island Kotelny Island (; ) is part of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands located between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea in the Russian Arctic. It is administratively and municipally part of Bulunsky District of the Republ ...
* 1773: The Phipps expedition towards the North Pole reaches 80° 37 N, north of Spitsbergen. This was the first Arctic expedition to carry out scientific research. * 1776–1780:
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
charts the northwestern coast of America and sails through the Bering Strait during his third voyage in search of the Northwest Passage * 1785–1794: Russian expedition led by
Joseph Billings Joseph Billings (17581806) was an English navigator, hydrographer and explorer who spent the most of his career in Russian service. From 1790 to 1794 he commanded a marine expedition that searched for a Northeast Passage and explored the coasts ...
explores Eastern Siberia, the
Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...
, and the west coast of Alaska * 1789: Alexander Mackenzie traces the
Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...
to the Arctic Ocean


19th century


Early Period (1800–1818)

* 1800:
Yakov Sannikov Yakov Sannikov () was a Russian '' promyshlennik'' and explorer of the New Siberian Islands. In 1800, Sannikov discovered and charted Stolbovoy Island, and in 1805 Faddeyevsky Island. In 1809–1810, he took part in the expedition led by Matv ...
charts
Stolbovoy Island Stolbovoy Island () is a long and narrow island of the Sakha Republic off the southwest side of the New Siberian Islands in the eastern part of the Laptev Sea. It is located away from the Siberian coast and southwest of Kotelny Island, being t ...
* 1809–1811: Yakov Sannikov and
Matvei Gedenschtrom Mathias or Matthias Hedenström ( Swedish; 1780 – ), also known by his Russian name Matvei Matveyevich Gedenshtrom (), was a Russian explorer of Northern Siberia, writer, and public servant. Life Gedenshtrom was born in Riga, then part of the ...
explore the
New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands (; ) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, of whose Bulunsky District they ar ...
* 1815–1818:
Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (; 30 December 1787 – 15 February 1846) was a Baltic German naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy. He commanded two naval expeditions into the Pacific for the purposes of exploration and scientific investigation. The fi ...
explores the Bering Strait during the
Rurik expedition The Russian ''Rurik'' Expedition ("Rurick Expedition") was a Circumnavigation, circumnavigation of the world that took place from July 30, 1815 to August 3, 1818 under the command of Otto von Kotzebue and was intended to discover and explore the ...


Ross Ross may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ross (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan Places Antarctica * Ross Sea ...
,
Parry Parry may refer to: People * Parry (surname) * Parry (given name) Fictional characters * Parry, protagonist of the movie ''The Fisher King'', played by Robin Williams * Parry in the series '' Incarnations of Immortality'' by Piers Anthony * ...
and
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...
(1818–1846)

* 1818:
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
expedition led by captain
David Buchan David Buchan (c. 1780 – after 8 December 1838) was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer. Family In 1802 or 1803, he married Maria Adye. They had at least three children. Exploration In 1806, Buchan was appointed as a lieutenant ...
sails north from Spitsbergen * 1818: Royal Navy expedition led by John Ross (Royal Navy officer), John Ross with his nephew James Clark Ross, sails north along the west coast of Greenland to Pituffik in search of the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
and encounters the Inughuit (Greenlandic Inuit) of Cape York (Greenland), Cape York * 1819: Royal Navy expedition aboard and led by William Parry (explorer), William Edward Parry in search of the Northwest Passage * 1819–1822: The Coppermine expedition in northern Canada, led by John Franklin, includes George Back and John Richardson (naturalist), John Richardson


1820s

* 1820–1824: Ferdinand von Wrangel and Fyodor Matyushkin explore the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea areas * 1821–1824: Fyodor Litke explores the eastern Barents Sea and the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, including Matochkin Strait * 1821–1823: Pyotr Anjou continues exploration of New Siberian Islands * 1822: William Scoresby lands in east Greenland near the mouth of the fjord system that would later be named for him – Scoresby Sound * 1823: Douglas Clavering and Edward Sabine explore East Greenland northwards to Clavering Island, where they get in contact with the now extinct Inuit of Northeast Greenland * 1825–1827: The Mackenzie River expedition descends the Mackenzie River and maps much of the Arctic coast * 1826: Frederick William Beechey aboard explores the Alaskan coast from Point Barrow to the Bering Strait * 1827: First Norwegian expedition to the Arctic, led by Baltazar Mathias Keilhau * 1827: Royal Navy expedition to Spitsbergen led by William Edward Parry reaches 82°45 N * 1828–1830: Danish expedition led by Wilhelm August Graah tries to locate the Eastern Settlement in southeast Greenland, but does not reach Ammassalik Island. * 1829–1833: Royal Navy expedition led by John Ross (Royal Navy officer), John Ross to search for the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
explores James Ross Strait and King William Island, King William Land, locates the North Magnetic Pole


1830s and 1840s

* 1832–1835: Pyotr Pakhtusov explores the southern half of the eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya * 1833–1835: Royal Navy expedition led by George Back from Fort Reliance, Northwest Territories, Fort Reliance to the mouth of the Back River (Nunavut), Back River at Chantrey Inlet * 1836: George Back attempts to ascertain if Boothia Peninsula is an island or a peninsula but his ship, , is trapped by ice near Southampton Island * 1837: Karl Ernst von Baer leads a natural history expedition to Novaya Zemlya * 1838–1839: Avgust Tsivolko leads an expedition to Novaya Zemlya, primarily for surveying * 1838–1840: La Recherche Expedition, La Recherche expedition, under the command of Joseph Paul Gaimard, a scientific venture to explore the islands in the North Atlantic * 1845: Franklin expedition, Franklin's Northwest Passage expedition is sent to map the remaining Northwest Passage


Search for Franklin's lost expedition, Franklin (1846–1857)

* 1848: John Richardson (naturalist), John Richardson and John Rae (explorer), John Rae lead the Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition and search overland for Franklin's lost expedition * 1849: Henry Kellett discovers Herald Island (Arctic), Herald Island searching for Franklin's lost expedition * 1850–1854: McClure Arctic expedition led by Robert McClure, a British search for the members of Franklin's lost expedition * 1850–1851: First Grinnell expedition led by Edwin De Haven, the first American search for the members of Franklin's lost expedition, finds the graves of crew members John Torrington, William Braine and John Hartnell on Beechey Island * 1851: William Kennedy (explorer), William Kennedy leads a search expedition for Franklin in the ''Prince Albert'', sponsored by Jane Franklin, Lady Franklin * 1852: Edward Augustus Inglefield sets out to search for Franklin's ill-fated expedition in the , also sponsored by Jane Franklin * 1853–1855: Second Grinnell expedition led by Elisha Kane looks for Franklin searching Grinnell Land * 1857–1859: McClintock Arctic expedition led by Francis Leopold McClintock is the fifth expedition sponsored by Lady Franklin and finds artefacts, a crew member's skeleton and the final written communications from the last survivors of the Franklin expedition


Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Nordenskiöld Period (1857–1879)

* 1858: Swedish expedition to Spitsbergen led by Otto Martin Torell


1860s

*1860: Paul A. Chadbourne, a Williams College professor, conducts the Williams College Lyceum of Natural History expedition to Greenland. * 1860–1861: American Arctic Expedition led by Isaac Israel Hayes who claims to see the Open Polar Sea * 1860–1862: First expedition led by American Charles Francis Hall searching for Franklin * 1861: Swedish expedition to Svalbard led by Otto Martin Torell explores Hinlopen Strait and the north coast of Nordaustlandet * 1861–1862: Otto Paul von Krusenstern's expedition through the Kara Sea on the ''Yermak'' * 1864: Swedish expedition to Svalbard led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld * 1864–1869: Charles Francis Hall leads his second expedition to determine the fate of Franklin, to King William Island * 1867: Edward Whymper and Robert Brown (botanist, born 1842), Robert Brown attempt to explore the inland ice of Greenland * 1868: German North Polar Expedition, First German North Polar Expedition led by Carl Koldewey along the east coast of Greenland * 1868: Swedish expedition led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld attempts farthest north from Svalbard * 1869–1870: Second German North Polar Expedition ( and ''Hansa'') led by Carl Koldewey reaches Sabine Island


1870s

* 1870 Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld leads a short journey on the inland ice of Western Greenland * 1871: Benjamin Leigh Smith's first expedition explores the northeastern boundary of Svalbard * 1871–1873: Polaris expedition, ''Polaris'' expedition, known for the death of its commander, Charles Francis Hall * 1872: Benjamin Leigh Smith returns to Svalbard in his second expedition * 1872–1873: Swedish expedition to Svalbard led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld winters at Mosselbukta * 1872–1874: Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition led by Captain Karl Weyprecht discovers Franz Josef Land * 1873: Benjamin Leigh Smith comes to Nordenskiöld's aid in Spitsbergen * 1875: Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld is the first to reach the Yenisey by sea * 1875–1876: British Arctic Expedition led by Captain George Nares * 1876: Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld repeats his voyage to the Yenisey * 1876–1878: :nb:Den norske Nordhavsekspedisjon 1876–78, Norwegian Northern Seas expedition in ''Vøringen'' explored the Atlantic Ocean, Northern Atlantic up to 80°N * 1877–1878: Henry W. Howgate leads the Howgate Preliminary Polar Expedition to promote scientific experiments, and whaling as a source of revenue * 1878: J. A. D. Jensen explores the inland ice sheet from west Greenland * 1878–1881: different voyages with Dutch polar schooner ''Willem Barents'' in the area around Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, organised by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society * 1878–1879: Swedish Vega Expedition, ''Vega'' expedition led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld completes the Northeast Passage


Race for the Pole (1879–1900)

* 1879–1882: Jeannette expedition, ''Jeannette'' expedition commanded by George W. De Long attempts to reach the North Pole by sea from the Bering Strait * 1880: Henry W. Howgate leads the Howgate Arctic expedition for scientific and geographical exploration of Greenland * 1880: Benjamin Leigh Smith's fourth expedition explores the southwestern area of Franz Josef Land * 1881–1882: Benjamin Leigh Smith's final expedition is shipwrecked in Franz Josef Land


First International Polar Year, International Polar Year

* 1881–1884: Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, Signal Corps (United States Army), US Army Signal Corps expedition led by Adolphus Greely * 1882–1883: The Danish Dijmphna, Dijmphna expedition travels to the territory between Russia and the North Pole * 1883–1885: Umiak expedition, led by Gustav Frederik Holm and Thomas Vilhelm Garde along the southeastern coast of Greenland in the shallow waters between the coast and the sea ice * 1883: Failed attempt by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld to cross Greenland from the west * 1886: Failed attempt by Robert Peary to cross Greenland * 1888–1889: First successful crossing of the Greenland inland ice by the Norwegian expedition led by Fridtjof Nansen (from east to west)


1890s

* 1891–1892: The East Greenland expedition on the ''Hekla'' led by Carl Ryder fails to get through the sea ice of east Greenland, but explores the Scoresby Sound system in detail * 1891–1892: Second Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–92, Peary expedition to Greenland led by Peary to discover if Greenland is an island or a peninsula * 1892: Björling–Kallstenius Expedition led by Alfred Björling was eventually wrecked on the Carey Islands * 1893–1895: Third US Greenland expedition led by Peary * 1893–1896: Nansen's Fram expedition, Nansen's ''Fram'' expedition by Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen on the and over ice towards the North Pole * 1894 Failed attempt by Walter Wellman to reach the North Pole from Svalbard * 1894–1897: Jackson–Harmsworth expedition, led by Frederick George Jackson, explores Franz Josef Land hoping in vain to find more land polewards * 1895-1896: Ingolf expedition, hydrographical and biological studies in the waters around Greenland, Iceland and
Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
* 1897: Salomon August Andrée leads a failed three man Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition, Arctic balloon expedition in an attempt to reach the Pole, Andrée along with Knut Frænkel and Nils Strindberg die * 1898–1899: Failed attempt by Walter Wellman to reach the North Pole from Franz Josef Land * 1898–1902: Second ''Fram'' voyage by Otto Sverdrup explores the North American Arctic around Ellesmere Island * 1898-1902: Peary's Sixth Expedition and first attempt at the North Pole * 1898–1900: The Carlsbergfund expedition to East Greenland led by Georg Carl Amdrup explores the Blosseville Coast * 1899: Alfred Gabriel Nathorst explores the fjords of northeast Greenland, in particular the King Oscar Fjord system * 1898–1902: The Swedish–Russian Arc-of-Meridian Expedition measures a meridian arc in Svalbard throughout five summer seasons and one winter season * 1899–1900: Italian North Pole expedition led by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi on the renamed captained by Umberto Cagni


20th century


Roald Amundsen, Amundsen and the Heroic Age (1900–1925)

* 1898, 1899, 1906, 1907: Albert I, Prince of Monaco leads four Arctic expeditions with ''Princesse Alice'' * 1900–1903: Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 on-board is led by Eduard Toll * 1901–1902: Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition financed by US industrialist William Ziegler (industrialist), William Ziegler, led by Evelyn Baldwin * 1902–1904: The Literary expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen together with Knud Rasmussen explores the northwest Greenland coast between Uummannaq and Qaanaaq, Thule * 1903–1906: Roald Amundsen's ''Gjøa'' expedition – first
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
traversal * 1903–1905: Ziegler Polar Expedition overland, led by Anthony Fiala * 1905–1906: North Pole expedition led by Robert Peary, from Ellesmere Island * 1906–1908: The Danmark Expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, mapped the last unknown areas of Northeast Greenland, but ended fatally for the main exploring team * 1906, 1907, 1909: The airship and Walter Wellman * 1906–1908: Anglo-American Polar expedition (Ejnar Mikkelsen–Ernest de Koven Leffingwell expedition) * 1907: Johan Peter Koch and Aage Bertelsen report seeing Fata Morgana Land, a phantom island off the coast of northeast Greenland


Disputed Polar Claims

* 1907–1909: US North Pole expedition led by Frederick Cook claims to be the first to reach the pole * 1908: expedition led by Charles Bénard Le Pontois, Charles Bénard explores Novaya Zemlya * 1908–1909: expedition led by Robert Peary also claims reaching the North Pole first * 1909–1912: The to northeast Greenland led by Ejnar Mikkelsen in an operation to recover bodies and logs of the ill-fated Danmark expedition * 1910–1915: Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition in and * 1912: First Thule expedition – Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen explores North Greenland and establishes that Peary Land is not an island * 1912: Swiss expedition led by Alfred de Quervain crosses Greenland by dog-sled *1912: German Arctic Expedition to Spitsbergen, led by Herbert Schröder-Stranz * 1912–1913: Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land – Johan Peter Koch and Alfred Wegener cross the inland ice in north Greenland * 1912–1914: Brusilov Expedition, ill-fated expedition led by Captain Georgy Brusilov * 1912–1914: Russian expedition aboard ''Foka'', led by Georgy Sedov * 1913: Crocker Land Expedition to search for Crocker Island, a hoax reported by Robert Peary * 1913–1918: Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913–1916 led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, initially in which Last voyage of the Karluk, was lost in 1913 and explored land that was unknown to the Inuit * 1916–1918: Second Thule expedition – Knud Rasmussen and Lauge Koch explore North Greenland * 1918–1925: Roald Amundsen#The Northeast Passage, Roald Amundsen traverses the
Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...
with * 1919: Third Thule expedition – Knud Rasmussen explores north Greenland and lays out depots for Roald Amundsen's polar drift in ''Maud'' * 1919–1920: Fourth Thule expedition – Knud Rasmussen explores east Greenland * 1921:1921 Oxford University Spitsbergen expedition, Oxford University Spitsbergen expedition led by F. C. R. Jourdain * 1921–1923: Bicentenary Jubilee expedition led by Lauge Koch explores north Greenland * 1921–1923: Wrangel Island Expedition – a land claim and colonisation attempt conceived, but not led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson – all members die apart from Iñupiat seamstress and cook Ada Blackjack * 1921–1924: Fifth Thule expedition led by Knud Rasmussen crossing the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
on dog sledges from Thule across Northern Canada, Arctic Canada to Nome, Alaska demonstrates how Inuit culture could spread rapidly * 1924: Oxford University Arctic Expedition led by George Binney, uses a seaplane to assist in the first traverse of Nordaustlandet


Richard E. Byrd, Byrd and the Aircraft Age (1925–1958)

* 1925: Flying boat expedition led by Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth * 1926: Aircraft flight by Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett


Polar Conquest

* 1926: The airship (Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Lincoln Ellsworth) becomes the ''first'' ''verified'' trip to the North Pole * 1928: Carl Ben Eielson–Hubert Wilkins Arctic Ocean crossing * 1928: The airship (Umberto Nobile); airship crashed, but Nobile was rescued * 1928: Roald Amundsen disappears in the Arctic aboard a Latham 47 while searching for Nobile * 1928: USCGC Marion (WSC-145), Marion expedition to
Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...
and
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...
* 1930–1931: Alfred Wegener's German Greenland Expedition that led to his death on the Greenland ice sheet, halfway between Eismitte and West Camp * 1930: Bratvaag Expedition, led by Gunnar Horn to Franz Josef Land, found long lost remains of Salomon August Andrée's expedition * 1930–1931: British Arctic Air Route Expedition was an expedition, led by Gino Watkins, that aimed to draw improved maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of Greenland's coastline * 1931: Successful research trip by airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin#Polar flight (1931), ''Graf Zeppelin'' led by Hugo Eckener * 1931: Sir Hubert Wilkins with submarine (failed south of the pole) * 1931: Sixth Thule expedition led by Knud Rasmussen explores northeast Greenland * 1931: Arne Høygaard and Martin Mehren cross Greenland by dog-sled * 1931–1934: The three-year expedition to East Greenland led by Lauge Koch explores northeast Greenland


International Polar Year#The Second International Polar Year (1932–1933), Second International Polar Year

* 1932: Icebreaker makes the successful crossing of the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation without wintering * 1932–1933: 1932–33 East Greenland expedition, East Greenland expedition, also known as the Pan Am expedition, a four-man expedition to continue the work of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition * 1932–1933: Dalstroy expedition to the
Kolyma River The Kolyma (, ; ) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, b ...
in a convoy headed by the icebreaker * 1933: Russian steamship managed to get through most of the Northern Route before it was caught in the ice in September * 1934: British Trans-Greenland Expedition led by Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet, Martin Lindsay * 1935: Ushakov Island, the last piece of undiscovered territory in the Soviet Arctic, was found by Georgy Ushakov aboard the * 1935: French expedition led by Paul-Émile Victor crosses Greenland by dog-sled * 1937: Soviet aircraft Tupolev ANT-25 made several transpolar flights * 1937: Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations are, as of 2017, 41 scientific drift stations operating or were operating on drift ice *1937–1938: German Spitsbergen Expedition led by Dr. Herbert Rieche * 1937–1938: MacGregor Arctic Expedition was led by Clifford J. MacGregor and overwintered at Etah, Greenland *1938: Cambridge Spitsbergen Expedition led by L.H.McCabe * 1938–1939: Mørkefjord expedition was an exploratory expedition to northeast Greenland led by Eigil Knuth


Post-War

* 1946: Operation Nanook (1946), Operation Nanook was a US cartographic mission to Thule and to erect a radio and weather station * 1948: Russian scientific expedition led by Aleksandr Kuznetsov (explorer), Aleksandr Kuznetsov lands an aircraft at Pole * 1952–1954: British North Greenland expedition was a British scientific mission, led by Commander James Simpson (explorer), James Simpson * 1955: Cross-polar flight by Louise Arner Boyd


Era of Satellites, Submarines and Icebreakers (1958–onward)

* 1958: USS Nautilus (SSN-571) crosses the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific to the Atlantic beneath the polar sea ice, reaching the North Pole on 3 August 1958 * 1959: Discoverer 1, a prototype with no camera, is the first satellite in polar orbit * 1959: USS Skate (SSN-578) becomes first submarine to surface at the North Pole on 17 March 1959 * 1960: TIROS-1, is the first weather satellite in polar orbit; eventually returned 22,952 cloud cover photos * 1968: Ralph Plaisted and three others reach the North Pole by snowmobile and are the first confirmed overland conquest of the Pole * 1968–1969: Wally Herbert, British explorer, reaches Pole on foot and traverses the Arctic Ocean * 1971: Former football player Tony Dauksza becomes the first person to traverse the Northwest Passage in a canoe * 1977: , nuclear-powered icebreaker, reaches the North Pole * 1979–1982: Kenichi Horie in ''Mermaid'', was the first person to sail the Northwest Passage solo * 1982: As part of the Transglobe Expedition Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Charles R. Burton cross the Arctic Ocean in a single season * 1986: Will Steger and party reach the north pole by dog sled without resupply * 1986–1989: David Scott Cowper became the first person to have completed the Northwest Passage single-handed as part of a circumnavigation of the world * 1988: Will Steger completes first south–north traverse of Greenland * 1988: Soviet–Canadian 1988 Polar Bridge Expedition a group of thirteen Russian and Canadian skiers set out from Siberia skiing to Canada over the North Pole aided by satellites. * 1989: Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner are the first to reach the South Pole and cross Antarctica (1,750 miles route) with neither animal nor motorised help * 1991-1992: Lonnie Dupre completes first west to east winter crossing of arctic Canada traveling by dog team from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska via the northwest passage before turning south ending in Churchill, Manitoba. The 3000-mile journey started in October and ended in April. * 1992: Crossing of the Greenland inland ice from east to west by a Japanese expedition led by Kenji Yoshikawa * 1993–1994: Pam Flowers dog sledded alone from Barrow, Alaska, to Naujaat, Repulse Bay (Naujaat), Canada * 1994: Shane Lundgren led expedition that began in Moscow and proceeded north of the Arctic Circle across Siberia to Magadan * 1995: Marek Kamiński and Wojciech Moskal reached the North Pole on 23 May 1995 (27 December 1995, Marek Kamiński reached the South Pole alone) * 1997: Børge Ousland completed the first unsupported solo crossing of the Antarctic


21st century

* 2000: Ukraine - North Pole - 2000, Ukrainian parachute expedition to the North Pole * 2001: Lonnie Dupre with teammate John Holescher complete the first circumnavigation of Greenland, a 6,500 mile, all non-motorized journey by kayak and dog team. * 2002: Jean Lemire and the crew of the successfully navigate the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
on a three-mast schooner, sailing from Montreal to Vancouver in five months while filming ''La grande traversée'' and four other documentaries about the effects of global warming on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (at the time, only the seventh sailboat in history to make the legendary Northwest Passage from east to west) * 2003: Pen Hadow makes solo trek from Canada to North Pole without resupply * 2004: Five members of the Ice Warrior Squad reach the Geomagnetic North Pole, including the first two women in history to do so. * 2006: Start of the French Tara expedition, ''Tara'' expedition * 2007: Arktika 2007, Russian submersible descends to the ocean floor below the North Pole from the * 2007: Top Gear: Polar Special, BBC's Top Gear team are the first to reach the North Magnetic Pole, magnetic North Pole in a car * 2007: The Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition uses Mars analog sites on Svalbard for testing of science questions and payload instruments onboard Mars missions * 2008: Alex Hibbert and George Bullard complete the Tiso Trans Greenland expedition. The longest fully unsupported land Arctic journey in history at * 2009: David Scott Cowper becomes the only person to have sailed the Northwest Passage solo in a single season. * 2011: MLAE-2011 led by Vasily Igorevich Yelagin travelled from Dudinka, Russia – North Pole – Resolute, Nunavut, Canada * 2011: Old Pulteney Row To The Pole, a publicity stunt sponsored by Old Pulteney distillery, Old Pulteney whisky, organised by Jock Wishart who also operated the Polar Race * 2015: Interdisciplinary Arctic Expedition "Kartesh" – complex arctic expedition, organized by the Polar Expedition Gallery project (later rebranded as Polar Expedition "Kartesh") in collaboration with the Moscow State University, LMSU Marine Research Center. Research tasks: assessing the Arctic coastline vulnerability towards human impact; marine and coastal ecosystem and Arctic seas landform condition monitoring; West Arctic biodiversity research; oil oxidizing microorganism activity research; testing new methods of water areas remote sensing. * 2017: Polar Row, led by Fiann Paul, is the world's most record-breaking expedition (14 Guinness World Records). The team covered 1440 miles measured in a straight line in the Arctic Ocean open waters in a row boat and pioneered ocean rowing routes from Tromsø to Longyearbyen, from Longyearbyen to Arctic Ice Pack (79º55'500 N) and from the Arctic ice pack to
Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
. * 2019: MOSAiC Expedition under the direction of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research with 300 scientists from 20 nations on board the German ice-breaker RV Polarstern, ''Polarstern'' to collect data about the ocean, the ice, the atmosphere and life in the Arctic in order to understand climate change


See also

* List of Antarctic expeditions * List of firsts at the Geographic North Pole


Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arctic expeditions Arctic-related lists, Expeditions Arctic expeditions, Explorers of the Arctic, Lists of expeditions