THE FIRST RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONOF THE EASTERN PART OF THE ARCTIC ZONEOF THE EUROPEAN NORTH-EAST OF RUSSIA
The paper considers an important evidence of the geographical study of the territory of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra of the XVII century. The rst Russian geographical description of the eastern part of the Arctic zone of the European North-East of Russia was carried out during a geological exploration expedition in 1672 from the Pustozersk prison to the Polar Urals. The expedition was led by the subdeacon of the Pustozersk prison of the Log Hut (voivodeship o ce) Fyodor Popov. He also made a detailed description of the route of the expedition. The description lists all large and small rivers, indicating the direction of their ow, lakes, mountains and hills. Important details are given in the description of mountain rivers: the presence of rapids and others. The description was submitted to the Novgorod Command - the central department that managed this territory. A unique document with the text of the description has been preserved in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts.