Born seventeenth century,
Veliki Ustyug, Russia
Died 1711,
Kamchatka, Russia

Vladimir Vasilyevich Atlasov, a Cossack peasant, was born in the town of Veliki Ustyug in northern Russia. As an officer and explorer in the Russian army, he helped expand Russia’s territory by claiming the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Pacific Ocean. There he built forts and exacted tribute from the indigenous peoples. Atlasov encountered the Ainu, a people of Caucasian origin who were the original inhabitants of Japan. He also sighted the Kuril Islands, one of which is now named Atlasova Island.

Seventeenth-century Russia was a vast, sparsely populated country that looked eastward for trade and exploration. Its feudal government was controlled by the Great Russians, or Muscovites, who had expanded from Moscow into Siberia and across 5,000 miles of northern Asia. The Russian motive for seeking a northern route was economic. The area to the north...