The article discusses approaches to systematization and assessment of the significance of Soviet and Russian geographical discoveries in Antarctica in the first decades of research on the continent. It is shown that not all the criteria adopted for evaluating world geographical discoveries are adequate for the ice continent, including for the discoveries of Russian geographers in East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean within the framework of the CAE, SAE, and RAE. The main discoveries and primary descriptions of Soviet scientists fall precisely on the period from 1956 to 1975 and subsequent decades (more than 2000), which are respectively reflected in the toponyms of the region and shown on the first maps. They had a different scale and significance–from the global (discovery of subglacial terrain and Lake Vostok) to the continental and regional (mountains, rocks, nunataks, elements of the coastline, the relief of the ocean f loor, etc.) levels. It is concluded that most of the discoveries were predicted, logically followed from the previous stages of geographical research on the continent, and were determined by progress in the development of technical means and technologies for space sensing, geophysics, deep drilling of glaciers, the use of deep-sea vehicles, etc. A significant part of the discoveries was made in various fields of Earth sciences as a result of detailed research using new methods, including geophysical and remote sensing. The necessity of continuing work on accounting, cataloging, and personalization of Russian geographical discoveries in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is justified.