Circumnavigation – literally, " navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.

Global circumnavigation

In principle, if a person walks completely around either Pole, they will have crossed all meridians, but this is not generally considered a "circumnavigation." A basic definition of a global circumnavigation would be a route which covers at least a great circle, and in particular one which passes through at least one pair of points antipodal to each other. ^[1] In practice, different definitions of world circumnavigation are used, in order to accommodate practical constraints depending on the method of travel. Since the planet is quasispheroidal, a trip from one Pole to the other, and back again, would technically be a circumnavigation, but practical difficulties generally preclude such a voyage.

For the wealthy, long voyages around the world, such as was done by Ulysses S. Grant, became possible in the 19th century, and the World Wars moved vast numbers of troops around the planet. However, it was later improvements in technology and rising incomes that made such trips relatively common.

Nautical

The nautical global circumnavigation record is currently held by a wind powered vessel.

Wind powered

The map on the right shows, in red, a typical, non-competitive, route for a sailing circumnavigation of the world by the trade winds and the Suez and Panama canals; overlaid in yellow are the points antipodal to all points on the route. It can be seen that the route roughly approximates a great circle, and passes through two pairs of antipodal points. This is a route followed by many cruising sailors, going in the western direction; the use of the trade winds makes it a relatively easy sail, although it passes through a number of zones of calms or light winds.

In yacht racing, a round-the-world route approximating a great circle would be quite impractical, particularly in a non-stop race where use of the Panama and Suez Canals would be impossible. Yacht racing therefore defines a world circumnavigation to be a passage of at least 21,600 nautical miles (40,000 km) in length which crosses the equator, crosses every meridian and finishes in the same port as it starts. ^[2] The map on the left shows the route of the Vendée Globe round-the-world race in red; overlaid in yellow are the points antipodal to all points on the route. It can be seen that the route does not pass through any pairs of antipodal points. Since the winds in the higher latitudes predominantly blow west-to-east it can be seen that there is an easier route (west-to-east) and a harder route (east-to-west) when circumnavigating by sail; this difficulty is magnified for square-rig vessels.

For around the world sailing records, there is a rule saying that the length must be at least 21,600 nautical miles calculated along the shortest possible track from the starting port and back that does not cross land and does not go below 63°S. It is allowed to have one single waypoint to lengthen the calculated track. The equator must be crossed. ^[3]

The current wind powered circumnavigation record of 45 days 13 hours 42 minutes 53 seconds was established by Loïck Peyron on the maxi-multihull sailing yacht Banque Populaire V and completed on the 6th of January 2012. The voyage followed the North Atlantic Ocean, Equator, South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Equator, North Atlantic Ocean route in an easterly direction.

Mechanically powered

Since the advent of world cruises in 1922, by Cunard's Laconia, thousands of people have completed circumnavigations of the globe at a more leisurely pace. Typically, these voyages begin in New York City or Southampton, and proceed westward. Routes vary, either travelling through the Caribbean and then into the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal, or around Cape Horn. From there ships usually make their way to Hawaii, the islands of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, then northward to Hong Kong, South East Asia, and India. At that point, again, routes may vary: one way is through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean; the other is around Cape of Good Hope and then up the west coast of Africa. These cruises end in the port where they began.

The current mechanically powered circumnavigation record of 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes was established by a voyage of the wave-piercing trimaran Earthrace which was completed on 27 June 2008. The voyage followed the North Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea route in a westerly direction.

Aviation

Since the development of commercial aviation many thousands of people have flown around the world. Some regular routes, such as the old Pan American Flight One (and later, although briefly, United Airlines Flight One), circled the globe, and today planning such a trip through various connections is quite simple.

The first successful attempt to circumnavigate the planet Earth by air occurred in 1924, flown by aviators of the U.S. Army Air Service in a quartet of Douglas World Cruiser biplanes.

The first lighter-than-air aircraft of any type to circumnavigate the Earth under its own power was the rigid airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, which did so in 1929.

Aviation records take account of the wind circulation patterns of the world; in particular the jet streams, which circulate in the northern and southern hemispheres without crossing the equator. There is therefore no requirement to cross the equator, or to pass through two antipodal points, in the course of setting a round-the-world aviation record. Thus, for example, Steve Fossett's global circumnavigation by balloon was entirely contained within the southern hemisphere.

For powered aviation, the course of a round-the-world record must start and finish at the same point and cross all meridians; the course must be at least 36,787.559 kilometres (22,858.729 mi) long (which is the length of the Tropic of Cancer). The course must include set control points at latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles. ^[4]

In ballooning, which is totally at the mercy of the winds, the requirements are even more relaxed. The course must cross all meridians, and must include a set of checkpoints which are all outside of two circles, chosen by the pilot, having radii of 3,335.85 kilometres (2,072.80 mi) and enclosing the poles (though not necessarily centred on them). ^[5]

Astronautics

The first person to fly in space, Yuri Gagarin, also became the first person to complete an orbital spaceflight in the Vostok 1 spaceship, in 1961. Early NASA space missions included only sub-orbital spaceflights.

Human-powered

According to AdventureStats, Jason Lewis completed the first true human-powered circumnavigation of the globe ^[6] while National Geographic lists Colin Angus as being the first to complete a global circumnavigation. ^[7] While neither Lewis or Angus met the Guinness World Records criteria, each completed continuous human powered journeys around the planet, although they did not cross a pair of antipodes or travel the distance of the Tropic of Cancer. ^[8] David Kunst was the first verified person to walk around the world between 20 June 1970 and 10 October 1974. Guidelines issued by Guinness World Records in March 2007 state that a human powered circumnavigation must travel a minimum of 36,787.559 km (the distance of the Tropic of Cancer), cross the Equator, and each leg must commence at the exact point where the last finished off. To date no one has completed a human-powered circumnavigation according to the guidelines set by Guinness. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

People have both bicycled and run around the world, but the oceans have had to be covered by air travel, making the distance shorter than the Guinness guidelines. To go from North America to Asia on foot is theoretically possible but very difficult. It involves crossing the Bering Strait on the ice, and around 3000 km of roadless swamped or freezing cold areas in Alaska and eastern Russia. No one has so far travelled all of this route by foot.

Notable circumnavigations

Maritime

• Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan) and Juan Sebastián Elcano's 1519-1522 expedition was the first documented world circumnavigation. At the behest of the Spanish Crown, Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world, sailing between August 1519 and April 1521. However, he was killed in a battle in the Philippine island of Cebu on April 27, 1521. His second in command, the Spanish ^[12] Juan Sebastián Elcano, from Getaria, completed the journey back through the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope to Spain in 1522. The 18 survivors of this expedition including Elcano, on the Victoria completed the circumnavigation returning to Sanlucar de Barrameda on 8 September 1522 after a journey of 3 years and 1 month. (Seventeen more survivors later returned.) These were the first known navigators to circumnavigate the world. ^[13] Sanlucar de Barrameda 2019-2022 is an initiative that is being planned to celebrate the fifth centenary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth, which departure point and return were in the city of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Spain.
• HMS Driver, the first circumnavigation by a steam ship, 1845-1847.
• The Spanish frigate Numancia, commanded by Juan Bautista Antequera y Bobadilla, the first ironclad warship circumnavigation, 1865–1867.
• Joshua Slocum, 1895–1898, first single-handed circumnavigation.

Aviation

• United States Army Air Service, 1924, first aerial circumnavigation, 175 days, covering 44,360 kilometres (27,560 mi), with examples of the Douglas World Cruiser biplane.
• In 1949, the Lucky Lady II, a Boeing B-50 Superfortress of the U. S. Air Force, commanded by Captain James Gallagher, became the first aeroplane to circle the world nonstop. This was achieved by refueling the plane in flight. Total time airborne was 94 hours and 1 minute.
• In 2005, Steve Fossett, flying a Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, set the current record for fastest aerial circumnavigation (first non-stop, non-refueled solo circumnavigation in an airplane) in 67 hours, covering 37,000 kilometers.

Land

• In 1841-1842 Sir George Simpson (administrator) made the first "land circumnavigation", crossing Canada and Siberia and returning to London.

See also

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Round the world overland.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Round the world flights.

• List of circumnavigations
• Around the world sailing record
• Russian circumnavigations
• First Russian circumnavigation

References