Russian Geographical Society

The Russian Geographical Society, or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and statistics. History Imperial Geographical Society The society was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 6 (18) August 1845. Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. The order to establish the society came directly from Emperor Nicholas I. The motive for the establishment was to encourage geographical research on domestic topics, which has later been described as a Russian nationalist political goal.