CHRONOLOGY OF POLAR VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS
I. Arctic
| Year | Explorer | Ship | Nationality | Locality[213] |
| 1553 | Willoughby and Chancellor | Bona Esperanza and others | British | Sea N. of Europe |
| 1556 | Stephen Burrough | Searchthrift | „ | Kara Strait |
| 1576–78 (3 voyages) | Frobisher | Gabriel and others | „ | Baffin Land |
| 1580 | Pett and Jackman | George and William | „ | Novaya Zemlya |
| 1584 | Brunel | Dutch | „ | |
| 1585–87 (3 voyages) | Davis | Sunshine, Moonshine, etc. | British | Davis Straits |
| 1594–95 (2 voyages) | Nai, Tetgales, Barents | (1) Swan, Mercury; (2) Griffin, Hope, Greyhound | Dutch | Novaya Zemlya |
| 1596–97 | Heemskerck, Rijp, Barents | „ | Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya | |
| 1606 | Knight | Hopewell | British | Greenland |
| 1607–08 | Hudson | „ | „ | Greenland, Spitsbergen, Jan Mayen |
| 1609 | „ | Half-moon | Dutch | Novaya Zemlya, Hudson River |
| 1610 | „ | Discovery | British | Hudson Bay |
| 1610–14 (various voyages) | Poole, Edge, Joseph, Marmaduke, Baffin | Various | „ | Spitsbergen |
| 1612 | Button | Resolution and Discovery | „ | Hudson Bay |
| 1615–16 (2 voyages) | Bylot and Baffin | Discovery | „ | Baffin Bay, etc |
| 1617 | Edge | „ | Spitsbergen | |
| 1619–20 | Munk | Danish | Hudson Bay | |
| 1631–32 | Foxe and James | Charles and Maria | British | „ |
| 1644–48 | Stadukhin, Alexeief, Deshnef, Ankudinof | Russian | N. Siberian coast | |
| 1664 | Vlamingh | Dutch | Novaya Zemlya | |
| 1676–77 | Wood | Speedwell and Prosperous | British | „ |
| 1707 | Gillis | Dutch | N.E. Spitsbergen | |
| 1710 | Permakof | Russian | N. Siberian coast | |
| 1734–42 | Paulof, Mlyagin, Owzin, Minin, Sterlegof, Laptef, Chelyuskin | „ | „ | |
| 1742 | Middleton | Furnace and Discovery | British | Hudson Bay |
| 1746–47 | Moore and Smith | Dobbs and California | „ | „ |
| 1770 | Liakhof | Russian | New Siberia Islands | |
| 1773 | Phipps | Racehorse and Carcass | British | Greenland Sea |
| 1776–7 | Pickersgill, Young | Lion | „ | Baffin Bay |
| 1805–10 | Hedenström, Sannikof, etc. | Russian | New Siberia Islands | |
| 1815–18 | Kotzebue | Rurik | „ | Bering Sea |
| 1818 | Ross (John) | Isabella and Alexander | British | N.W. Passage |
| 1818 | Buchan and Franklin | Dorothea and Trent | „ | Greenland Sea |
| 1819–20 | Parry | Hecla and Griper | „ | Melville Island |
| 1819–22 | Franklin and others | (land) | „ | Arctic Canada |
| 1820–23 | Wrangel and Anjou | Russian | Siberian Polar Sea | |
| 1821–23 | Parry | Fury and Hecla | British | American Archipelago |
| 1821–24 | Lütke Novaya Zemlya | Russian | Novaya Zemlya | |
| 1822 | Scoresby | Baffin | British | E. Greenland |
| 1824–25 | Parry | Hecla and Fury | „ | American Archipelago |
| 1825–28 | Beechey | Blossom | „ | Point Barrow, etc. |
| 1827 | Parry | Hecla | „ | Sea N. of Spitsbergen |
| 1829–33 | Ross (John and James C.) | Victory | „ | N.W. Passage and Magnetic Pole |
| 1833–34 | Back | (land) | „ | Great Fish River |
| 1837–38 | Dease and Simpson | „ | Baffin Bay, etc. | |
| 1845–51 | Franklin | Erebus and Terror | „ | N.W. Passage |
| 1848–51 | Kellett | Herald and Plover | „ | Franklin Search |
| 1848–49 | Ross (James C.) with M’Clure and M’Clintock | Enterprise and Investigator | „ | „ |
| 1850–51 | De Haven (Grinnell Exp.), | Advance and Rescue | American | „ |
| 1850–51 | Austin, Osborn, Ommanney etc. | Assistance, Intrepid, Pioneer, Resolute | British | „ |
| 1850–54 | M’Clure and Collinson | Investigator and Enterprise | „ | „ |
| 1852–53 | Inglefield | Phoenix | „ | Beechey Island |
| 1852–54 | Belcher, Osborn, M’Clintock, Richards, Pullen | Resolute, Pioneer, Intrepid, Assistance, North Star | „ | Franklin Search |
| 1853–54 | Rae | „ | „ | |
| 1853–55 | Kane (2nd Grinnell Exp.) | Advance | American | Smith Sound |
| 1857–59 | M’Clintock | Fox | British | Franklin Search |
| 1858–62 | Torell, Nordenskiöld, etc. | Various | Swedish | Spitsbergen and Greenland |
| 1860–61 | Hayes | United States | American | Grinnell Land and N. Greenland |
| 1864–69 | Hall | Monticello | „ | American Archipelago |
| 1868 | Nordenskiöld (A. E.) | Sofia | Swedish | Bear Island and Spitsbergen |
| 1868 | Koldewey | Germania | German | E. Greenland |
| 1869 | Palliser | Laurel | Anglo- Norwegian | Kara Sea |
| 1869–70 | Koldewey and Hegemann | Germania and Hansa | German E. | Greenland |
| 1871–73 | Hall | Polaris | American | Smith Sound and Robeson Channel |
| 1872–74 | Weyprecht and Payer | Tegetthoff | Austrian | Franz Josef Land |
| 1874–95 | Wiggins | Various | British | Sea route to Siberia |
| 1875–77 | Nares and others | Alert and Discovery | „ | Grant Land and N. Greenland |
| 1875–76 | Allen Young | Pandora | „ | Lancaster and Smith Sounds |
| 1878–80 | Nordenskiöld (A. E.) | Vega | Swedish | N.E. Passage |
| 1879–82 | De Long | Jeannette | American | New Siberia Islands, etc. |
| 1880–82 | Leigh Smith | Eira | British | Franz Josef Land |
| 1881–84 | Greely | Proteus | American | Lady Franklin Bay, etc. |
| 1885–86 | Bunge and Toll | Russian | New Siberia Islands | |
| 1888 | Nansen | (land) | Norwegian | S. Greenland |
| 1891–92 | Peary | Kite | American | N. Greenland |
| 1893 | Toll | Russian | New Siberia Islands, etc. | |
| 1893–95 | Peary | Falcon | American | N. Greenland |
| 1893–96 | Nansen | Fram | Norwegian | Across Polar Basin |
| 1894–97 | Jackson | Windward | British | Franz Josef Land |
| 1896–97 | Conway | Express | „ | Spitsbergen |
| 1897 | Peary | Hope | American | Cape York Meteorite |
| 1898–99 | Amdrup | Danish | E. Greenland | |
| 1898–1902 | Peary | Windward | American | Sea N. of Greenland |
| 1898–1902 | Sverdrup | Fram | Norwegian | American Archipelago |
| 1899 | Makarof | Yermak | Russian | Kara Sea, etc. |
| 1899 | Nathorst | Antarctic | Swedish | Jan Mayen and E. Greenland |
| 1899–1900 | Duke of Abruzzi | Stella Polare | Italian | Franz Josef Land and Sea to North |
| 1900 | Amdrup | Antarctic | Danish | E. Greenland |
| 1900–1901 | Baldwin (1st Ziegler Exp.) | America | American | Franz Josef Land |
| 1900–1902 | Toll | Sarya | Russian | New Siberia Islands |
| 1903–1905 | Amundsen | Gjöa | Norwegian | N. Magnetic Pole and N.W. Passage |
| 1903–1905 | Fiala (2nd Ziegler Exp.) | America | American | Franz Josef Land |
| 1905–1906 | Peary | Roosevelt | „ | Ocean N. of Greenland |
| 1906–1907 | Bernier | Arctic | Canadian | American Archipelago |
| 1906–1908 | Mikkelsen | Duchess of Bedford | Anglo- American- Danish | Beaufort Sea |
| 1906–1908 | Mylius Erichsen | Danmark | Danish | N.E. Greenland |
| 1908–1909 | Peary | Roosevelt | American | N. Pole |
| 1908–12 | Stefansson and Anderson | (land) | Icelandic Canadian | Arctic Canada |
| 1909–12 | Mikkelsen | Alabama | Danish | N.E. Greenland |
| 1912 | Rasmussen | (land) | „ | N. Greenland |
| 1912 | De Quervain | „ | Swiss | S. Greenland |
| 1913 | Koch | „ | Danish | Central Greenland |
| 1913 | Vilkitski | Taimuir and Vaigach | Russian | Siberian Arctic Ocean |
| 1913–17 | Macmillan | Erik | American | Greenland, Ellesmere Island and Sea to north |
| 1913–17 | Stefansson, Anderson, and Bartlett | Karluk, Mary Sachs, Polar Bear, etc. | Canadian | American Archipelago and Beaufort Sea |
| 1914–15 | Vilkitski | Taimuir and Vaigach | Russian | N.E. Passage (E. to W.) |
| 1917 | Rasmussen | (land) | Danish | N. Greenland |
| 1918 | Storkersen | (ice) | Canadian | Beaufort Sea |
II. Antarctic (including near approaches to Antarctic Circle)
| Year | Explorer | Ship | Nationality | Locality[214] |
| 1772–75 | Cook | Resolution and Adventure | British | Southern Ocean |
| 1819–21 | Bellingshausen | Vostok and Mirnyi | Russian | „ |
| 1819–20 | Smith | Williams | British | South Shetlands |
| 1820 | Bransfield | Andromache | „ | „ |
| 1820–22 (2 voyages) | Pendleton, Palmer, etc. | Frederick, Hero, etc. | American | South Shetlands, Palmer Land, Powell Islands |
| 1821–22 | Powell | Dove | British | South Orkneys |
| 1822–23 | Weddell | Jane and Beaufoy | „ | Weddell Sea, etc. |
| 1822–23 | Morrell | Wasp | American | Southern Ocean |
| 1837–40 | D’Urville | Astrolabe and Zelée | French | Southern Ocean and lands to South |
| 1838–39 | Balleny | Eliza Scott | British | Balleny Islands, etc. |
| 1839–40 | Wilkes | Vincennes and others | American | Wilkes Land, etc. |
| 1839–43 | Ross (James C.) | Erebus and Terror | British | Ross Sea and Victoria Land |
| 1873–74 | Dallmann | Grönland | German | Graham Land, etc. |
| 1874 | Nares | Challenger | British | Southern Ocean |
| 1892–93 | Fairweather, Bruce, etc. | Balaena, Active and others | „ | Graham Land, etc. |
| 1893–94 | Larsen and others | Jason, etc. | Norwegian -German | „ |
| 1894–95 | Kristensen and Bull | Antarctic | Norwegian | Victoria Land |
| 1897–99 | Gerlache and others | Belgica | Belgian | Graham and Alexander Lands |
| 1898–1900 | Borchgrevink | Southern Cross | British | Victoria Land |
| 1901–03 | Drygalski | Gauss | German | William II Land |
| 1901–03 | Nordenskjöld | Antarctic | Swedish | Graham Land, etc. |
| 1901–04 | Scott | Discovery | British | Victoria Land |
| 1902–04 | Bruce | Scotia | „ | Weddell Sea and Coats Land |
| 1902–04 | Charcot | Français | French | Graham Land, etc. |
| 1907–09 | Shackleton | Nimrod | British | Towards South Pole |
| 1908–10 | Charcot | Pourquoi-pas? | French | Graham Land, etc. |
| 1910–12 | Amundsen | Fram | Norwegian | South Pole |
| 1910–13 | Scott | Terra Nova | British | South Pole |
| 1911–12 | Filchner | Deutschland | German | Weddell Sea and Luitpold Land |
| 1911–13 | Mawson and Davis | Aurora | Australian | Lands south of Indian Ocean |
| 1914–16 | Shackleton | Endurance and Aurora | British | Weddell Sea |