ANTARCTIC PLACE-NAMES COMMISSION

Bulgarian place names in Antarctica are given in accordance with established Bulgarian and international practice. The Commission maintains international coordination with naming authorities of other Antarctic nations, and with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Names given by Bulgaria are incorporated in the SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.

HISTORY

The Antarctic Place-names Commission was established on 17 November 1994 by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute. On 16 November 2001 the Commission was re-designated as a body affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Commission membership evolved over time as follows:

Dr. Lyubomir Ivanov (Chairman), since 1994 Prof. Christo Pimpirev, since 1994 Danail Chakarov, since 2013 Amb. Branimir Zaimov, 2010-2013 Dr. Zlatko Dimitroff, 2008-2010 Emilena Popova, 2005-2008 Dr. Katya Todorova, 2001-2005 Dr. Solomon Passy, 1994-2001

TOPONYMIC GUIDELINES

In 1995 the Commission adopted its own Toponymic Guidelines defining the relevant types of geographical features, specific elements of geographical names, inappropriate names, criteria of names approval, language and spelling, and names approval procedures. In particular, the Guidelines introduced the Streamlined System for the Romanization of Bulgarian that subsequently became established in common practice, was promulgated for official use in identity documents, Bulgarian geographical names, road signs, street names, official information systems, databases, web sites of local authorities etc., and eventually codified by the Transliteration Law passed in 2009.

Toponymic Guidelines for Antarctica

SURVEYS

The work of the Commission is supported by geographical information and mapping resulting from topographic surveys in Antarctica, including those in the austral summers of 1994/95, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04 and 2004/05 (scientific Antarctic expedition Tangra 2004/05).

ANTARCTIC MAPS

The Antarctic Place-names Commission published the first Bulgarian Antarctic topographic map in 1996, the first Bulgarian topographic map of Livingston Island and Greenwich Island in 2005 and, jointly with the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army, made the first detailed mapping of Greenwich, Robert and Snow Islands, and the first topographic map of Smith Island in 2009.

St. Kliment Ohridski Base, Livingston Island. Scale 1:1000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 1996. (in Bulgarian) Image scale: 1 second of latitude = 31 metres. Released under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Livingston Island: Central-Eastern Region. Scale 1:25000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 1996. (in English) Image scale: 1 minute of latitude = 1,858 metres. Released under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005. (in English). Image scale: 1 minute of latitude = 1,858 metres. Map made by Geototal Ltd. and the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria. Presented to Pope Benedict XVI. Released under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. (in Bulgarian) ISBN 978-954-92032-4-0 Updated second edition 2010. ISBN 978-954-92032-8-8 Image scale: 1 minute of latitude = 1,858 metres. Map made by the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army and the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Published on the occasion of the Fourth International Polar Year (2007-09). Free copies donated to all Bulgarian schools. Public presentation with President Parvanov taking part.

	Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. (in English) ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4 Updated second edition 2010. ISBN 978-954-92032-9-5 Image scale: 1 minute of latitude = 1,858 metres. Map made by the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army and the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
	Bowles Ridge and Central Tangra Mountains: Livingston Island, Antarctica . Authors: Asparuh Kamburov and Lyubomir Ivanov. Scale 1:25000. Projection EPSG:32720 (Ellipsoid WGS 1984, UTM zone 20S). Contour interval 10 m. Vertical datum EGM2008. Data from the 2022 Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA), and 2004/05,2014/15 and 2016/17 Bulgarian topographic surveys. Publication date: March 2023. Publisher: Manfred Wörner Foundation. ISBN: 978-619-90008-6-1. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. For printed version click here.
	Bowles Ridge and Central Tangra Mountains: Livingston Island, Antarctica . Authors: Asparuh Kamburov and Lyubomir Ivanov. Scale 1:25000. Projection EPSG:32720 (Ellipsoid WGS 1984, UTM zone 20S). Contour interval 10 m. Vertical datum EGM2008. Data from the 2022 Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA), SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica, and 2004/05, 2014/15 and 2016/17 Bulgarian topographic surveys. (in Bulgarian) Publication date: June 2023. Publisher: Manfred Wörner Foundation. ISBN: 978-619-90008-8-5. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.

BULGARIAN ANTARCTIC NAMES

Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer, with names and coordinates in English.

Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer, with narratives in Bulgarian.

		SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica: Search with a Country of origin parameter Bulgaria to view all Bulgarian names and their narratives.
CONTACTS Antarctic Place-names Commission Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2 Aleksandar Zhendov Street 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria e-mail: apcbg@yahoo.com