Memorable dates of Russia: Russian Geographical Society celebrates 170th anniversary

Today is 170 years since the founding of the Russian Geographical Society. In our country this is the only in public organization uninterruptedly existing since its founding in 1845. And even if the name of the Company changed over the years, succession of his statutes was strictly observed. The words “Knowledge of the Russian State”, which were written in the very first one, are remain the slogan of the company to this day. Expeditions and discoveries brought worldwide recognition to RGS.

Russian Geographical Society, one of the oldest and most respected organizations in the world, is now going through the Renaissance.

“Now the Russian Geographical Society is close to the state that it was at before revolution: the repairs are done, the libraries are all converted into digital format, the catalogs are put together. We did a great deal of work. It all must be saved for future generations”, - says head of the expeditionary corps RGS Alexander Orlov.

Russian Geographic Society was founded in 1845 on the highest injunction of Emperor Nicholas the First. The organization brought together famous scientists, researchers, travelers and ethnographers.

"The main result of the activities of the Russian Geographical Society is that throughout the 170 years it took an active role in the study of the nature of our country and the world, supply, economy, culture and in the introduction of advanced methods for studying the Earth's surface", - said chairman of the Moscow branch of the Russian Geographical Society, vice president of the Russian Geographical Society Nikolai Kasimov.

Important pages in the history of the Russian Geographical Society are the discovery and study of new lands, the opening up of the Ocean.

Russian Geographical Society oversees more than six hundred projects. This year already 112 grants were issued, including those on the protection of rare animals and on school expeditions. Among the notable events of the anniversary year are the International Geography Olympiad, the conference of the International Geographical Union, "The Very Beautiful Country" photo contest, the upcoming second festival of Russian Geographical Society, which audience in the past year was up to 10 thousand people a day.