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Barrow, Alaska 99723

Here's a view of the post office of Barrow, Alaska. At 71º North, this is the northernmost US Post Office. Photo courtesy Glen Stephens, taken in 1997.
Barrow, Alaska

"Danger: Polar Bears!" sign and Glen Stephens at Pt.Barrow, 1997. Photo courtesy Glen Stephens.
Nome, Alaska 99762

Shown here is the post office in Nome, Alaska, the finish line of the world famous 1100 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Photo taken and sent in by Tom Busch, March 2001. Tom is the General Manager of Nome's radio station KNOM.
Nome, Alaska 99762

Inside view of the Nome PO. Photo taken and sent in by Tom Busch, March 2001
QC J0M 1N0 Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik

The Post Office of the Inuit village of Kangiqsualujjuaq (George River) in Nunavik, the northern, Arctic part of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Kangiqsualujjuaq PO is located inside the Co-op store building shown here. Photo taken and sent in by Simon Charbonneau, December 2000.
QC J0M 1N0 Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik

Here's another shot of the Kangiqsualujjuaq Post Office. Note the "Canada Post / Postes Canada / Kangiqsualujjuaq, QC J0M 1N0" sign. Photo taken and sent in by Simon Charbonneau, Dec. 2000.
NT X1A 2L8 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

The main Post Office of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, June 2001. Photo taken and sent in by Karen Hollett of the Arctic Wild Harvest Company, supplier of unique gourmet foods, gift items and fine art from Canada's Arctic wilderness).
9174 Hopen, Svalbard

Hopen Radio / Post Office. Note the Norwegian Post posthorn and "9174 Hopen" sign. Photo courtesy Hjørdis Karin Dahle.
9173 Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Postcard showing the Ny-Ålesund Post Office. Postcard title: Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (Villmarkfoto / Haslum Grafisk). Postcard from Michael de Jong's collection.
9170 Longyearbyen, Svalbard

This photo shows the main street of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The post office is located in the big building on the right (note the usual Norwegian Post red and yellow posthorn sign). Photo by Vidar Hisdal from the book Svalbard - Nature and History (Vidar Hisdal, 1998).
Advent Bay, Svalbard

The first post office on Svalbard was opened in 1897 and was located inside this tourist hotel in Advent Bay. The hotel was operated by the Vesteraalen Steamship Co. The caption of this photo reads: "Touristhytten, Advent Bay, Spitsbergen. Verdens nordligste Postkontor.", which translates to "The tourist cabin, Advent Bay, Spitsbergen. The world's northernmost post office". Photo courtesy of Fred Goldberg, from his booklet Norwegian Postal Service 100 Years on Svalbard (1997).
8099 Jan Mayen

The Post Office on the remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen. Photo taken and sent-in by Jan Mayen Postmaster Per-Einar Dahlen, March 2001.
8099 Jan Mayen

Inside shot of the Jan Mayen Post Office. Photo taken and sent in by Jan Mayen Postmaster Per-Einar Dahlen, March 2001.

Visit the Jan Mayen Web site - all about Jan Mayen, by the Jan Mayen crew.

96930 Arctic Circle, Finland

Christmas Day at the Santa Claus Post Office near Rovaniemi, Arctic Finland. Photo courtesy Glen Stephens.
96930 Arctic Circle, Finland

Outside of the Santa Claus Post Office near Rovaniemi, Arctic Finland. Photo courtesy Glen Stephens.


The BORNEO Ice Station at 89ºNorth, 100km south of the Geographic North Pole, is a temporary base established each March by Avia Khatanga and CERPOLEX, a French organization which provides logistics support to tourists and adventurers wanting to travel to the Geographic North Pole.

The base is serviced by an Antonov 74 aircraft from Khatanga, Siberia, and at the base two MI-8 helicopters are stationed for flights to the Geographic North Pole and rescue missions.

A tent at BORNEO acts as an official Russian Post Office and a special Russian cancellation is used with permission from the Russian Ministry of Post in Moscow. Every year about 800 letters/postcards are cancelled, including philatelic subscriptions and mail from tourists, adventurers and explorers. Below are some photos of the BORNEO Drifting Ice Station and its Post Office. The photos are sent in by François Bergez, who is the postmaster of the BORNEO station since 1997.

BORNEO Ice Station, 89ºNorth

The BORNEO Ice Station at 89ºNorth, 100km south of the Geographic North Pole. Photo by François Bergez, April 1997.
BORNEO Ice Station, 89ºNorth

The tent acting as the BORNEO Post Office, the northernmost post office in the world. Photo by François Bergez, April 1998.
BORNEO Ice Station, 89ºNorth

The postal operation begins. François Bergez is cancelling the commemorative North Pole covers. Photo by CERPOLEX, April 1999.
BORNEO Ice Station, 89ºNorth

For 10 minutes, the postal operations took place outside, with minus 30ºC.......In the background an MI8 helicopter is standing-by for a possible evacuation. Photo by CERPOLEX, April 1999.
BORNEO Ice Station, 89ºNorth

End of the expedition; covers and postmaster are going back on a Antonov 74 from BORNEO Ice Station to Khatanga, Siberia. Photo by CERPOLEX, April 2000.


The Otto Sverdrup Centennial Expedition - Retracing and commemorating the Fram Expedition of 100 years ago by Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup, the OSCE expedition team sailed to Nunavut, Arctic Canada, and wintered in their expedition yacht Northanger in Hourglass Bay during the winter of 1999/2000, on the same Ellesmere Island coast where Otto Sverdrup wintered for three years in the Fram. During the Fram expedition (1898-1902) Otto Sverdrup charted an island dotted area (now part of the northernmost part of the Canadian territory of Nunavut) of 200,000 square km, gave the islands Norwegian names, and annexed the land for Norway.

The OSCE team consisted of Graeme and Lynda Magor and their two-and-a-half year old daughter Keziah Winter from Canada, Guldborg Søvik and Lars Robert Hole from Norway, Keri Pashuk also from Canada, Greg Landreth from New Zealand, and two Greenland dogs called Bamse and Yukon.

In the fall, the OSCE team made excursions to nearby historical sites and dramatic landmarks, and a small shore shelter was built which would accomodate two of the expedition members. During the winter, the team conducted scientific research. A period of 100 days without sun had to be endured. In early spring, together with the dogs, Graeme, Guldborg, and Lars set out from Hourglass Bay on a 7 week, 700km ski and sledging journey across Norwegian Bay and onwards to Axel Heiberg Island (named by Sverdrup after the Norwegian consul who was one of the financiers of the Fram expedition), the largest member of the Sverdrup Archipelago. The ski and sledging team completed their journey at Bukken Fiord (81ºN) where Otto Sverdrup had made his claim of sovereignty precisely 100 years ago (the area later was transferred to Canada).

With the break-up of the ice in the late summer of 2000, and the Northanger breaking out of the ice and being able to sail south again, the expedition was completed.

For more information on the OSCE, visit the OSCE website. On the site they also have special expedition covers for sale.

Hourglass Bay, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut

Shown is OSCE Expedition Leader Graeme Magor from Canada autographing expedition covers inside the little shore shelter. Note the stamping device; this is the expedition's "Paquebot" stamp. Photo by Guldborg Søvik, used with permission.
Hourglass Bay, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut

Shown is OSCE member Guldborg Søvik from Norway holding the official flag of "Posten", the Norwegian Postal Service, in front of the iglu that served as an emergency shelter. Posten had given the team 4000 envelopes to take with them on the expedition and which are marketed by Posten themselves. 300 sets were given to the Expedition to assist in fund-raising. The latter are the ones that are for sale on the OSCE site. They were signed by all team members and cancelled with special postmarks on location in Hourglass Bay. The postmarks were official Norwegian cancellations which could be used in Canada, and in a sense the Northanger was a temporary, floating Norwegian Post Office. Photo by Lars Robert Hole, used with permission.

 
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