20 Rouble International Polar Year

Belarus issued this coin as part of its commitment to the International Polar Year 2007–2008, a coordinated global scientific program involving over 60 nations and roughly 50,000 researchers studying the Arctic and Antarctic. IPY 2007–2008 was itself the fourth such international effort, following predecessors in 1882–83, 1932–33, and the International Geophysical Year of 1957–58 — the last of which directly precipitated the Space Race by prompting both the US and USSR to announce satellite launch programs.