site.bta20 Years of Bulgarian Place Names on Livingston Island

For 20 years now, there has been Varna Peninsula, Kaliakra Glacier, Mt Tangra, Mt Levski and Cape Botev on Livingston Island in Antarctica. Twenty years ago today, President Georgi Parvanov issued a decree which gave Bulgarian names to 58 geographic places on Livingston in the South Shetland Islands archipelago.

The list of place names also includes Vidin Hills, Melnik Ridge, Rozhen Peninsula, Mt Simeon, Mt Cyril, Mt Tervel, Peshtera Glacier, Gabrovo Peak, Veleka Ridge, Cape Samuil, Levski Ridge, Srebarna Glacier, Elena Peak, Shabla Peak, Sopot Glacier, etc.

That was not the first decree by a Bulgarian President naming geographical places in the Antarctic. A 1996 decree by President Zhelyu Zhelev named a hill Sinemorets, a mountain peak Pliska and a plateau Balkan. In 1997, President Petar Stoyanov decreed the naming of a glacier Tarnovo, an icefall Ruen, and a saddle Nessebar. 

Over the years, hundreds of places on Antarctica have been given Bulgarian names.

By a decree of President Rumen Radev, ten geographical places have received Bulgarian names since the end of 2021, among them the bays of Big and Small Sechko, as well as the Baba Marta Coast. A coastline is named after Anka Lambreva, the first Bulgarian woman to fly in a plane over the English Channel and the first Bulgarian round-the-world traveller.

Bulgaria has been among the Antarctic countries since 1978, when it signed the Antarctic Treaty without voting rights. In 1998, it was accepted as a permanent member of the organization and, along with 26 other countries, has veto power on all matters concerning the Antarctic.

A Bulgarian base on Livingston Island was christened St. Kliment Ohridski in 1993 by a decree of President Zhelyu Zhelev. It was founded in 1988 and is located on the Heard Peninsula, 130 m off the coast of the inner Emona Bay in the Southern Gulf, which is used for the transfer of personnel and cargo by inflatable boats. In summer, the Rezovsky Stream flows through the base area, providing the necessary water supply.

On December 27, 2022, the Bulgarian research vessel Sv Sv Kiril I Metodii left on its first ever such voyage to Livingston to join the 31st Bulgarian Antarctic expedition. On board the ship is BTA staff writer Konstantin Karagyozov, who will be reporting throughout the voyage. His dispatches can be found in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's log section on the BTA website.