How did the Arctic and Antarctic get their names?

Most schoolchildren can show on a map or globe where the Arctic and Antarctic are located. But even adults are unlikely to be able to explain why the northern and southern regions of our planet are called that. How did these names come about and what do they mean?

On January 28, 1820, the expeditions of Russian explorers F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” found themselves at a huge ice barrier, behind which mountains of previously unknown land could be seen. It happened in the very south of our planet. This is how Russian navigators discovered the last continent.

For some unknown reason, the discoverers did not give the new land a name. Much later it began to be called as the antipode of the polar region located in the North - the Arctic. The sixth continent was located at the opposite end of the globe and was given the name “Opposite to the Arctic,” that is, Antarctica.

It is worth saying that people used the word “Antarctic” long before the discovery of the southern continent. In the Middle Ages, in French and English it meant “southern, hot, African.” At the same time, this word was written without the letter “k” - “antartic”.

The great English scientist and poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in the 14th century in his work “Astrology”: “The Antartic Pole is located under the Horizon.” In the 17th century in England the word was generally written as “Anartika”. They could say about African parrots like this: “Anarctic parrots with an Ethiopian (black) plume.”

Everything is clear with Antarctica. Let's now look at the Arctic, which was known to many peoples in ancient times. The most prominent constellation in the Northern Hemisphere is Ursa Major. In Greek, “bear” is “arktos” - travelers from the Mediterranean have long used this constellation as a sign of the way to the North. Because of this, they called all the northern regions of the planet Arctic.

The Arctic is not a continent, but a vast region around the North Pole. It includes parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Antarctica is a continent located around the South Pole. There is no permanent population there, but there are polar stations belonging to different countries of the world.

The Arctic and Antarctic are of great interest to humanity, so all kinds of research are continuously carried out there. The polar regions of the Earth are called the “weather kitchen” and by studying the natural phenomena occurring there, it is possible to make accurate meteorological forecasts. In addition, huge reserves of minerals are concentrated there, much of which has not yet been explored.