Geography of Russia - Antipodes

Antipodes

The antipodes of Russia lie in the South Pacific and South Atlantic near Antarctica. Only a small amount is antipodal to land. This includes the arctic islands of Franz Josef Land, Victoria, and North Novaya Zemlya (to Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica); Severnaya Zemlya (to the Ronne Ice Shelf and the Ellsworth Mountains behind it); the De Long Islands (to Coats Land, or just off shore); and Wrangel Island (to Queen Maud Land and its offshore Fimbul Ice Shelf).

In addition, northern Ellsworth Land and the base of the Antarctic Peninsula are largely antipodal to the Taymyr Peninsula, while Alexander Island is antipodal to eastern Taymyria south of the Khatanga Gulf. The free part of the Antarctic Peninsula is antipodal to the western Sakha Republic, from its northwestern coast southward, running east of the Lena River, with the northern end of the peninsula covering the towns of Vilyuysk and Kysyl-Syr and stopping about 300 km short of Yakutsk.

The antipodes of the South Orkney Islands are on the Aldan River on the other side of Yakutsk, between Ust-Maya and Eldikan, in southwestern Sakha. The southern two South Sandwich Islands are antipodal to the Pyagin Peninsula east of Magadan. Western South Georgia Island is antipodal to the northern tip of Sakhalin.

Peter I Island, claimed by Norway on the other side of the Peninsula, is opposite a spot 70 km SE of Norilsk.

The only inhabited lands antipodal to Russia are southern Patagonia, including Tierra del Fuego, which correspond to much of Buryatia, the western shore of Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast, and southwestern Zabaykalsky Krai, down to the Mongolian border, with Ulan-Ude being antipodal to Puerto Natales, Chile. The sparsely inhabited West Falkland and neighboring islets are antipodal to eastern Zabaykalsky on the border with northern Inner Mongolia.