The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 to 1899, named after its expedition vessel Belgica, was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region.

It left Antwerp, Belgium on August 16, 1897 and head towards the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula. Due to bad seamanship they were frozen in nearby Peter I Island, and drifted helplessly around the Bellinghause Ocean for the next thirteen months.

They were poorly equipped, and the conditions where hard, but nevertheless they still managed to collect a significant amount of scientific data.

The expedition team included

• Adrien de Gerlache (1866-1934): Belgian - leader
• Henryk Arctowski (1871-1958): Pole - geologist, oceanographer and meteorologist
• Emile Danco (1869-1898): Belgian - geophysical observations
• Emile-G. Racovitza (1868-1947): Romanian - zoologist and botanist
• Roald Amundsen (1872-1928): Norwegian - sublieutenant
• Georges Lecointe (1869-1929): Belgian - geophysical observations and second in command on the Belgica
• Frederick Cook (1865-1940): American - doctor and photographer
• Antoine Dobrowolski (1872-1954): Pole – assistant-meteorologist
• Jules Melaerts (1876-?): Belgian - third lieutenant
• Henri Somers (1863-?): Belgian – chief mechanic
• Max Van Rysselberghe (1878-?): Belgian - mechanic
• Louis Michotte (1868-1926): Belgian - cook
• Adam Tollefsen (1866-?): Norwegian - sailor
• Ludvig-Hjalmar Johansen (1872-?): Norwegian - sailor
• Engelbret Knudsen (1876-1900): Norwegian - sailor
• Gustave-Gaston Dufour (1876-1940): Belgian - sailor
• Jean Van Mirlo (1877-1964): Belgian - sailor
• Carl-Auguste Wiencke (1877-1898): Norwegian - sailor
• Johan Koren (1877-1919): Norwegian - sailor and assistant-zoologist