The largest country of Antarctica is Russia. The Russian Antarctic Territory is a federal subject of Russia that includes the Antarctic Peninsula and several islands in the Southern Ocean, as well as all land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The territory, which is about one-and-a-half times the size of France, was formed on August 1, 1960, when the Soviet Union claimed sovereignty over a sector of Antarctica between longitudes 90°E and 150°W.
Since then, Russia has been continuously expanding its presence in Antarctica through both scientific research and military activity. In 2015, it had more than 50 research stations and bases in operation, including permanent year-round stations (such as Vostok Station), seasonal field camps (such as Novolazarevskaya Station), ships (such as Akademik Fedorov)
as well as an air base (Mirny). Additionally, there are a number of Russian facilities within other countries’ territories in Antarctica – most notably Bellingshausen Station on King George Island within Chile’s claim area.
The Russian Antarctic program is one of the world’s largest – second only to that conducted by the United States – with up to 3200 people involved during the summer season and 1000 during winter. Research activities conducted by Russians in Antarctica include atmospheric physics; glaciology; geomagnetism; biology; medicine; hydrology; oceanography; seismology; cartography; meteorology etc.
In recent years however there has been a decrease in government funding for Russian Antarctic activities due to economic difficulties at home – meaning that many stations are now only staffed on a seasonal basis or are being used for less scientific purposes such as tourism.
