Cape Chelyuskin (мыс Челюскина) is the northernmost point of the Eurasian continent, and the northermost point of mainland Russia. It is situated at the tip of the Taymyr Peninsula, south of Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The landhead has a 17 m high light on a framework tower.

Cape Chelyuskin is located 1370 km from the North Pole.

History

The cape was first reached in May, 1742 by an expedition party led by Semion Chelyuskin, and was initially called Cape East-Northern. It was renamed in honour of Chelyuskin by the Russian Geographical Society in 1842, on the 100th anniversary of the discovery.

In 1919 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's ship Maud, left behind two men, Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen, at Cape Chelyuskin after having made winter quarters there. The Maud continued eastwards into the Laptev Sea and the men were instructed to wait for the freeze-up of the Kara Sea and then sledge southwestwards towards Dikson carrying Amundsen's mail. However, these two men disappeared mysteriously and were never seen again. In 1922 Nikifor Begichev led a Soviet expedition in search for Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen on request of the government of Norway, but Begichev was not successful.

A Weather and a hydrology research base named "Polar Station Cape Chelyuskin" was constructed in 1932, and headed by Ivan Papanin. It was renamed the "E. K. Fyodorov Hydrometeorological Observatory" in 1983. The station has a magnetic observatory and stands on the easter side of the point.

The cape hosts the northernmost airfield in Eurasia.

References

William Barr, The Last Journey of Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen, 1919.

External links

• 17th Century Cape Exploration note
• Russian-Soviet polar stations and their role in the Arctic Seas exploration
• North Pole Drifting Stations (1930s-1980s)