W poszukiwaniu Ziemi Sannikowa

Abstract

Sannikov Land was one of the greatest myths of Arctic geography, probably seen for the first time in the 17th century and remaining fascinating to this day. Convinctions as to the existence of this area resulted in the organisation of various expeditions of discovery. Among these efforts, the one mounted on the greatest scale with a view to Sannikov Land finally being discovered was the 1901-1902 expedition of Eduard Toll.This ended tragically for the explorer himself, while leaving the question of the existence of Sannikow Land unresolved. An answer (in the negative) finally came with systematic cartographic study carried out in Soviet Russia. However, the non-existence ofSannikov Land from the point of view of geography has not prevented it from winning a permanent position for itself in pop culture, through its inspiration of books, films and computer games.