List of research stations in the Arctic


A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth.
Historically few research stations have been permanent. Most of them were temporary, being abandoned after the completion of the project or owing to lack of funding to continue the research. Some of these were military or listening posts created as a result of the proximity of the U.S. and Soviet Union to each other's landmass across the polar region.
Ice stations are constructed on land or on ice that rests on land, while others are drifting ice stations built on the sea ice of the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.

Research stations

Station nameLocationOperating countryYear establishedSummer populationWinter population
Abisko [Scientific Research Station]Abisko, SápmiSweden

Drifting ice stations

Station nameHead of the first shiftDrift start dateDrift end dateDrift start coordinateDrift end coordinateDrift distance
North Pole-1I.D.PapaninMay 21, 1937February 19, 19382,850
North Pole-2M.M.SomovApril 2, 1950April 11, 19512,600
Fletcher's Ice Island19521978
North Pole-3A.F.TrioshnikovApril 4, 1954April 20, 19551,865
North Pole-4E.I.TolstikovApril 8, 1954April 19, 19576,970
North Pole-5N.A.VolkovApril 21, 1955October 8, 19563,630
North Pole-6K.A.SychevApril 19, 1956September 14, 19598,650
North Pole-7V.A.VedernikovApril 23, 1957April 11, 19593,520
North Pole-8V.M.RogachyovApril 27, 1959March 19, 19626,090
North Pole-9V.A.ShamontyevApril 26, 1960March 28, 19612,660
N.A.KornilovOctober 17, 1961April 29, 19643,960
North Pole-11N.N.BryazginApril 16, 1962April 20, 19632,400
North Pole-12L.N.BelyakovApril 30, 1963April 25, 19651,595
North Pole-13A.Ya. BuzuyevApril 22, 1964April 20, 19673,545
North Pole-14Yu. B.KonstantinovMay 1, 1965February 12, 19661,040
North Pole-15V.V.PanovApril 15, 1966March 25, 19682,330
North Pole-16Yu. B.KonstantinovApril 10, 1968March 22, 19725,850
North Pole-17N.I.BlinovApril 18, 1968October 16, 19691,750
North Pole-18N.N.OvchinnikovOctober 9, 1969October 24, 19715,240
North Pole-19A.N.ChilingarovNovember 7, 1969April 16, 19736,705
North Pole-20Yu. P.TikhonovApril 22, 1970May 17, 19723,780
North Pole-21G.I.KizinoApril 30, 1972May 17, 19743,605
North Pole-22V.G.MorozSeptember 13, 1973April 8, 198217,069
North Pole-23V.M.PiguzovDecember 5, 1975November 1, 19785,786
North Pole-24I.K.PopovJune 23, 1978November 19, 19805,652
North Pole-25V.S.SidorovMay 16, 1981April 20, 19845,754
North Pole-26V.S.SidorovMay 21, 1983April 9, 19865,380
North Pole-27Yu. P.TikhonovJune 2, 1984May 20, 19875,655
North Pole-28A.F.ChernyshovMay 21, 1986January 23, 19897,634
North Pole-29V.V.LukinJune 10, 1987August 19, 19882,686
North Pole-30V.M.PiguzovOctober 9, 1987April 4, 19917,675
North Pole-31V.S.SidorovOctober 22, 1988July 25, 19915,475
North Pole-32V.S.KoshelevApril 25, 2003March 6, 20042,418
North Pole-33A.A.VishnevskySeptember 9, 2004October 5, 20053,156
North Pole-34T.V.PetrovskySeptember 19, 2005May 25, 20062,032
North Pole-35Vladimir ChupunSeptember 21, 2007July 22, 20083,614
North Pole-36Yuri KatrayevSeptember 7, 2008August 24, 20092,905
North Pole-37Sergey LesenkovSeptember 7, 2009May 31, 20102,076
North Pole-38Tomash PetrovskiyOctober 14, 2010September 20, 20113,024
North Pole-39Alexander IpatovOctober 2, 2011September 15, 20121,885
North Pole-40Nikolai FomichevOctober 1, 2012June 7, 20131,736
North Pole-2015Dmitrij MamadalievApril 11, 2015August 9, 2015714
Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate Markus RexOctober 4, 2019July 30, 2020N/A1,700

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