Ukrainian Geographical Society

The Ukrainian Geographical Society is a non-governmental organization in Ukraine. Its stated purpose includes promoting and coordinating geographical research and using the results to address socio-economic development, optimize society-nature interaction, and provide geo-ecological education. The Society traces its history to 13 February 1873, when the South-Western Department of the Russian Geographical Society was established in Kyiv.

The Society traces its history to 13 February 1873, when the South-Western Department of the Russian Geographical Society was established in Kyiv on the initiative of prominent Ukrainian state and public figures, scholars, and cultural and educational figures including V. Antonovych, M. Bunge, H. Galagan, M. Drahomanov, O. Kistiakovsky, M. Lysenko, and P. Chubynsky. Hryhorii Galagan was elected the first head of the Department, and Pavlo Chubynsky became its secretary and manager of affairs. The Department immediately launched broad scholarly and educational activity and comprehensive study of Ukraine's nature and economy, including topography, orography, hydrology, soils, climate, flora and fauna, population and settlement history, and communication routes, and worked on proposals for nature protection. It also researched humanitarian issues, including the state and history of culture, literature, education, and language. A library of over 1,000 books and a museum of over 3,000 exhibits were created, and two volumes of the 'Notes of the South-Western Department' were published in 1873 and 1874. Within the Department, an Institute of Geography was established on M. Drahomanov's initiative to train teachers. The Department's achievements and the results of expeditions and research organized and conducted at a high scholarly level under P. Chubynsky's leadership received international recognition: in 1875 at an exhibition on the occasion of the Second International Geographical Congress in Paris they were awarded a gold medal. The Department established ties with geographical societies of France, Germany, and others.

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2. 2Історія Товариства – Українське географічне товариствоgeotov.org.ua
3. 3Про Товариство – Українське географічне товариствоgeotov.org.ua
4. 4Керівні органи управління та ревізії – Українське географічне товариствоgeotov.org.ua
5. 5Ukrainian Geographical Societywikidata.org