Jishnu Panamoly Ayyappan 🇮🇳

1️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) was founded by the imperial decree. 🌏 One of the world's oldest learned societies, it has helped shape how we see the planet. From charting Siberia's endless wilderness to expeditions across Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, India, New Guinea and the polar frontiers, its explorers pushed the boundaries of knowledge and imagination. 🔹 Over the years, its ranks have included legendary scientists, statesmen, adventurers and even monarchs – Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, who revealed the Tien Shan to the world; Nikolai Vavilov, the visionary geneticist who mapped the origins of cultivated plants; Vladimir Vernadsky, father of biogeochemistry; and Vladimir Dahl, lexicographer of the Russian language. The story stretches far beyond Russia too, with Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and Thor Heyerdahl counted among its members. 🔹 That spirit of discovery lives on today – in Arctic clean-ups and Amur tiger protection, in youth expeditions, film archives, photo contests and cultural projects. With Europe's largest geographical library at its heart in St Petersburg and more than 27,000 members worldwide, the RGS continues to inspire travellers, scientists and dreamers alike. 🗺 For 180 years it has reminded us: the map is never finished – there is always more to learn, more to protect, more to explore. ✅ To mark this occasion, the Russian Geographical Society prepared an online geography quest (until August 24, 2025). Your mission is to travel (virtually!) through each BRICS country, uncover its natural wonders, discover its cultural treasures, and test your knowledge along the way. 🔗 brics.rgo.ru/en/