The Vietnamese delegation at the House of Geography. Photo: Olga Semenova / press-service of the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg
The visit took place as part of cooperation between the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Specialists from the RGS Cartographic Collection have prepared several maps for display, the most notable of which is the 1873 «Asia» map. It was published in the German city of Gotha by the geographer and cartographer Emil von Sydow.
The «Asia» map contains inscriptions that are interesting for the educational process: «southern polar boundary of bananas and tropical cereal plants, ” «polar boundary of European cereal plants, ” «polar boundary of mosses and berries, ” «polar boundary of trees, ” and other designations. The map was intended to be presented to Emperor Aleksandr II.
During the tour, the guests were told the history of the Russian Geographical Society, as well as shown the historical interiors of the House of Geography and the premises of the RGS collections.
Fragment of the map "Asia" from 1873. Photo: Olga Semenova / press-service of the RGS Headquarters in St. Petersburg