Antarctic Place-names Commission

The Antarctic Place-names Commission was established by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute in 1994, and since 2001 has been a body affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. The Commission approves Bulgarian place names in Antarctica, which are formally given by the President of the Republic according to the Bulgarian Constitution and the established international practice.Geographical names in Antarctica reflect the history and practice of Antarctic exploration.

The nations involved in Antarctic research give new names to nameless geographical features for the purposes of orientation, logistics, and international scientific cooperation. There are approximately 18,000 different Antarctic toponyms, including several hundred names given by Bulgaria. Since the Bulgarian Antarctic base is situated in the South Shetland Islands, most of the Bulgarian place names are concentrated in that area too.

In 1995 the Commission developed its own "Toponymic Guidelines", which in particular introduced the Streamlined System that was subsequently adopted as the official national system for the Romanization of Bulgarian. The work of the Commission is supported by geographical information and mapping resulting from topographic surveys in Antarctica, such as the 1995/96 survey in Livingston Island, and the topographic survey Tangra 2004/05. The Commission published the first Bulgarian topographic map of Livingston Island and Greenwich Island in 2005.

The Antarctic Place-names Commission cooperates with other national authorities for Antarctic place names, and with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Details of the Bulgarian Antarctic toponyms are published by the Commission’s website, and also by the international Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica maintained by SCAR.

See also

* List of Bulgarian toponyms in Antarctica
* St. Kliment Ohridski Base
* Camp Academia
* Tangra 2004/05
* Livingston Island
* Greenwich Island
* Alexander Island
* South Shetland Islands
* Antarctica

Maps

* L.L. Ivanov, 1:1000 scale topographic map, Project of the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, supported by the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, Sofia, 1996 (The first Bulgarian Antarctic topographic map, in Bulgarian)
* L.L. Ivanov et al, (from English Strait to Morton Strait, with illustrations and ice-cover distribution), 1:100000 scale topographic map, Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, Sofia, 2005

External links

* [http://apc.mfa.government.bg Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria] (History; Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer; Toponymic Guidelines; Reference Maps; Livingston Island; Antarctic Philately)
* [http://www3.pnra.it/SCAR_GAZE SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica]