Russian Geographical Society

The Russian Geographical Society (Russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО») (RGO) is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes exploration and geography with research programs in fields including oceanography and ethnography.

The society was founded on 6 (18) August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

The founding members of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society included:

The Society's official presidents were Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia in 1845-92 and Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia in 1892-1917, but actually it was run by the Vice-Presidents: Fyodor Litke (1845–50, 1855–57), Count Mikhail Muravyov (1850–57), Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1873–1914), and Yuly Shokalsky (1914–31).

The filial societies were established at the Caucasus (1850), Irkutsk (1851), Vilnius (1867), Orenburg (1868), Kiev (1873), Omsk (1877), and other cities.

The Society organized and funded the expeditions of Richard Maack, Pyotr Kropotkin, Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, Nikolai Przhevalsky, Nikolai Miklukho-Maklai, Pyotr Kozlov, Vladimir Obruchev, and Lev Berg. It helped set up the first polar stations in Russia and was one of the first to publish detailed studies of the Russian folklore and Ukrainian fairs.

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