The Royal Danish Geographical Society (RDGS, ) is a

scientific society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to a ...

. The society aims to furthethe knowledge of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and its inhabitants and to disseminate interest in the science of

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. It was founded 18 November 1876 on the initiative of Professor E. D. Erslev. The society is based in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The society publishes an

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

, the Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography.

Awards and medals

The society awards several prizes and medals to those people who contribute to geographical science and research in areas of natural and cultural geography. The society awards the Hans Egede Medal in silver 'preferably for geographical studies and research in the Arctic countries'. It was established in 1916 and named after

Hans Egede Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Denmark–Norway, Danish-Norwegian Lutheran missionary priest who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a succes ...

, who was a Danish missionary in Greenland.

References

External links

Royal Danish Geographical Society website
Geographic societies Scientific organizations based in Denmark Organizations based in Copenhagen Scientific organizations established in 1876 1876 establishments in Denmark {{Denmark-org-stub