Queen Maud Land, which was annexed by Norway in 1939, is almost seven times larger than Norway – and constitutes one-sixth of the of the total area of Antarctica.
James Cookwas the first person to offer a detailed description of the waters around the frozen land mass called “Terra Autralis” from his travels in 1772and the years that followed. It was not until 1819, though, that the first real expedition took place when Russian czar Aleksander Isent an expedition under the leadership of Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. Later, a number of expeditions were made to Antarctica. It is said that William S.Brucefrom Scotland was the first person to set foot on Queen Maud Land, but it was the Norwegians who would be the first to actively map the area.
The objective of the Norwegian annexation of Queen Maud Land was not to exclude other states but rather to prevent the Norwegian whaling industry from being excluded or treated disproportionately as a result of the activity of the other countries.
Several Norwegians have been prominent in the exploration of Antarctica. Polar researcher and explorer Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink was a pioneer – and he established much of the basis for later expeditions led by Robert F.Scott, Ernest Shackletonand Roald Amundsen. Borchgrevink’s career in Antarcticastarted in 1894 as a member of a Norwegian whaling expedition, and he was one of the first to gather samples of living, organic material south of the southern Arctic circle.
