The Struve Geodetic Arc

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Black Sea to Norway’ northern coast on the initiative of Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve (1793-1864) for the measurement of the shape and size of the planet Earth. The measurement of the arc is an exceptional example of different countries scientists’ and monarchs’ cooperation with a scientific aim. The length of the arc is 2,820 km. When the arc was created and more than a century later it was the longest measured meridian arc. It passes through the territory of today’s Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles and 265 main station points. Thirty-four of the original station points today survive, and three of them are situated in Estonia, one in the Tartu Observatory and two in Simuna in the West-Viru County. Since 2005 the Struve Geodetic Arc is a UNESCO world heritage site.

These two miniature sheets were issued on 6.5.2011 by Sweden and Estonia to mark the anniversary of this remarkable scientific feat. For more information on this please read my post dated 27^th May 2011 under the sub head “Science & Technology”.

Finland - Struve Arc

The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks. Merja, thank you very much for this wonderful set of FDC, stamps etc.

There are two stamps within each other in the miniature sheet issued in honor of Struve Geodetic Arc, listed in the UNESCO's world heritage list. The round stamp has a Finland formed stamp within - when it is taken off, there stays an other stamp left, with the hole in the middle. On the sheet there is information of the six points which are situated in Finland. Struve Geodetic Arc in its entirety is depicted on the FDC for the miniature stamp sheet. The first day cancellation sketches the figure used in measurement.