Gagkuev R. G. Reshetnikov S. V. From the emperor Nicholas II land to the severnaya zemlya: to the history of the name of one geographival discovery

DOI:10.22394/2225-8272-2021-10-4-42-53 EDN: MESSBR

Abstract

The issue of the toponymy of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (until 1926 – the Land of Emperor Nicholas II) located in the Arctic Ocean is relatively poorly covered in Russian Arctic historiography. This topic is gaining particular relevance now, when Russia confirms the rights to sovereign ownership not only of Severnaya Zemlya, but also of the entire water area of the Arctic zone, on the eve of the launch of regular flights to transport goods between Vladivostok and St. Petersburg along the Northern Sea Route. The history of the name of the archipelago and the islands adjacent to it is one of the unique examples in terms of its toponymic politicization among all geographical objects in the world discovered in the 20 th century. The main reason for this was the discovery of these lands in the Arctic at the end of historical eras, on the eve of the beginning of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917. The publication was carried out with the financial support of the All-Russian public organization «Russian Geographical Society». The project «B.A. Vilkitsky. Hydrographic expedition 1914–1915 and the opening of the Northern Sea Route».