Moscow hosts first festival of Russian Geographical Society

On Saturday Moscow is hosting the first festival of the Russian Geographical Society. The event is being held for the first time in the body's 170-year-long history.

The opening ceremony was attended by the body's President, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu.

The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes exploration and geography with research programmes in fields including oceanography and ethnography.

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

The society reverted to its original name upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.