About the Branch

The Murmansk Branch of the Russian Geographical Society was founded in 1947. The seventies of the last century were characterized by extremely active work. This is when the Kola Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Apatity created the Northern Branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR, which included the Murmansk Branch. The high level of education among the members of the Society allowed them to carry out various scientific and educational activities. At one time, representatives of the Murmansk Branch used to publish the "Nature and Economy of the North" magazine (18 issues were published), and host a scientific and educational program for schoolchildren called "Surrender, North!" on television.

After the liquidation of the Northern Branch of the RGS in the nineties, the Murmansk Branch continued to work independently. Despite financial difficulties and other serious issues (the Branch lost its office, a considerable part of the active members left the Far North), the society has stood the test of time.

In 2021, a new era began for the Branch. Fulfilling their main goal of popularizing geographical knowledge, members of the Society take part in various conferences, presentations of popular science books written by the members of the Geographical Society. Considerable attention is given to working with students and young people.

The Murmansk Branch supports the development of the intellectual creativity of children studying in educational institutions of Murmansk, takes an active part in holding meetings of the "Young Travelers Club", which was acknowledged by the Education Committee of the Murmansk city administration with a letter of thanks.

In the autumn of 2014, the Branch took part in the international project called "the Tulip of Friendship" and together with schoolchildren planted tulips in the open ground of the park near the Children's Creativity Center named after Anatoly Bredov.

The "Bibliokrugosvetka" project involving the study of famous Russian geographers’ travel stories published by the "Great Russian Travelers" series is very successful too. It is organized by the Murmansk Regional Children's Library and the Murmansk "Young Travelers Club". This project will be a part of the Russian Geographical Society festival, which will take place in Moscow at the Central House of Artists.

On December 11, within the framework of the IV International Forum "The Arctic: Present and Future", first Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society Artur Chilingarov and Governor of the Murmansk Region Marina Kovtun signed an agreement on cooperation. This was the beginning of cooperation between the Murmansk Branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the Regional Administration.