Irkutsk Regional Branch

The Irkutsk regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society is one of the oldest. It was founded in 1851 on the initiative of Governor Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov (later Muravyov-Amursky) and was originally called the East Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. For a long time it was one of the most powerful centers for the study of nature, geography, and ethnography in the Far East and Siberia. The research was carried out in the field of cartography, comprehensive description of districts, study of communication routes, statistics, mineral wealth, vegetation, soils, climate, hydrology, archaeology. Irkutsk geographers helped establish a permanent connection between Russians and the local population. The result of the activity was not only a scientific contribution, but also a public one – museums, scientific libraries, astronomical observatories and meteorological stations were created, and at the beginning of the XX century – higher educational institutions.