The publishers pay a licence fee to the Society, which is used to fund the advancement of exploration and research and the promotion of geographical knowledge.

It contains illustrated articles on people, places, adventure, travel, and environmental issues, as well as summarising the latest academic research and discoveries in geography.

During the first few months of publication the magazine brought its readers stories from Mexico,[5] Tahiti[6] and Ankara,[7] examining different regions in a way that offered both analysis and the traveller’s impression.

[8] The Geographical Magazine continued to publish throughout the Second World War, under the editorship of Ivy Davison, despite facing shortages of paper and government censorship.

[1] Publishing of the magazine was taken over in 2005 by Syon Publishing which was set up by Graeme Gourlay in 1995. Notable recent writers have included Nicholas Crane,[11] Christopher Ondaatje,[12] Nick Danziger,[13] Nick Middleton[14] and Vitali Vitaliev,[15] while the magazine has also interviewed numerous significant figures from the world of geography and travel, such as David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Edmund Hillary, Paul Theroux[16] and Michael Palin.