Queen Maud Land
 Queen Maud Land is an Antarctic area south of Africa between 20° W and 44°38' E which was claimed by Norway at 14 January 1939 (Dronning Maud Land). The northerly and southerly extend of this area is not officially defined. It is named after Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria, Princess of Wales and Queen of Norway (1869-1938).
The Scot William Spiers Bruce was the first who trod the coast of Queen Maud Land in 1904 but Norwegian whaling ships of Lars Christensen made the major contribution to the exploration of the area at this time. In 1929/30 the aerial pioneers Riiser-Larsen und Lutzow-Holm explored parts of the coastline today know as Kronprins Olavs Kyst and Prinsesse Ragnhild Kyst. The first aerial photos of Queen Maud Land were taken by Wideroe and his photographer Romnaes.
During January and February 1939 the first large-scale aerial mapping in Antarctica was undertaken by the German Schwabenland Expedition. The expedition used two Dornier Wal flying boats, launched by a catapult from the mother ship, "Schwabenland". 11,000 photos were taken, 600,000 sq km were surveyed and hundreds of Swastikas on aluminium darts were dropped. The German claim to "Neuschwabenland" was quickly disputed by Norway who claimed the territory five days before the arrival of the Schwabenland Expedition. Anyway according to the Antarctic Treaty, Antarctica nowadays belongs to no nation and all territorial claims are not recognized.
Queen Maud Land offers a stunning landscape of bright blue ice caves and glaciers; endless, perfectly white snow fields and fang-like mountains towering above the plain white surface of the ice cap. It is a paradise of mountaineers, adventurers and nature lovers. A very interesting area is the Schirmacher Oasis a 17 km long hilly ice-free area with several partly frozen melt-water ponds. It was named after the German aircraft captain who flew first time over this area during the Schwabenland Expedition. The Indian Scientific Station Maitri and the Russian Scientific Station Novolazarevskaya are located in this Antarctic oasis. Also other countries like Belgium , Germany , Great Britain , Finnland , Japan , Norway , South Africa and Sweden operate Scientific Stations in the area of Queen Maud Land where metorological, glaciological, geophysical, geological, seismological, biological, medical and other research is executed.
A blue ice runway covered with a thin layer of compacted snow is located 15 kilometer south-west of the Russian station Novolazarevskaya. The "Novo-runway" is maintained by the Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI) in Cape Town. It is the main entry point to Antarctica from Cape Town , South Africa for tourists and private expeditions. Queen Maud Land offers excellent climbing, hiking and skiing opportunities, it is a good starting point for ski trips to the South Pole and it is a storming area to get an impression of the Antarctic landscape.
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