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十八世纪初,俄国沙皇彼得大帝决心使他衰弱落后的国家,变成先进强盛的帝国。当时,帝国东面辽阔的西伯利亚土地绝大部分都未经勘探。他决定让西伯利亚归由俄国来统治。如此一来,俄国在太平洋就可拥有一些良港。他还希望查明,亚洲是否如他相信的一样,与北美洲相连。1724年,沙皇指派维图斯·白令率领第一支探险队,先到西伯利亚东部的堪察加造船,再向北去查明北美洲与亚洲是否相连。这个命令十分简单,任务却非常艰巨。白令回国时,仍无法确实证明亚洲和北美洲之间有海相隔。1734年,白令奉命负责另一项野心勃勃的新计划,那就是大北方探险活动,目标是到达阿拉斯加和现在的白令海,并对西伯利亚的北极海岸全线进行勘查。
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Russian tsar Peter the Great resolved to turn his weak and backward country into an advanced and powerful empire. At that time, most of the vast land of Siberia on the eastern side of the empire was unexplored. He decided that Siberia should be ruled by Russia. As a result, Russia can have some good harbor in the Pacific. He also wished to find out if Asia, like what he believed, was linked to North America. In 1724, the Tsar assigned Vitoz Bering to lead the first expedition to the Kamchatka shipbuilding east of Siberia and further north to ascertain whether North America is connected to Asia. This order is very simple, the task is very arduous. When Bering returned home, it was not yet proven that there was a sea apart between Asia and North America. In 1734, Bering was ordered to take on another ambitious new project, the Great Northern Expedition, with the goal of reaching Alaska and the present Bering Sea and conducting a survey of the entire Arctic coast of Siberia.