During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain.

The June 1985 cover portrait of a 12-year-old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, shot by photographer Steve McCurry, became one of the magazine's most recognizable images.

It was then sued over copyright of the magazine as a collective work in Greenberg v. National Geographic and other cases, and temporarily withdrew the compilation.

In December 2017, a deal was announced for Disney to acquire 21st Century Fox, including the controlling interest in National Geographic Partners.

[22] In June 2023, the magazine laid off all of its staff writers, shifting to an entirely freelance-based writing model, and announced that beginning in 2024 it would no longer offer newsstand purchases.

[23] During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain.

The magazine printed articles on Berlin, de-occupied Austria, the Soviet Union, and Communist China that deliberately downplayed politics to focus on culture.

[27] After 21st Century Fox acquired controlling interest in the magazine, articles became outspoken on topics such as environmental issues, deforestation, chemical pollution, global warming, and endangered species.

Occasionally an entire month's issue would be devoted to a single country, past civilization, a natural resource whose future is endangered, or other themes.

[28] In addition to being well known for articles about scenery, history, and the most distant corners of the world, the magazine has been recognized for its book-like quality and the high standard of its photography.

By 1910, photographs had become the magazine's trademark and Grosvenor was constantly on the search for "dynamical pictures" as Graham Bell called them, particularly those that provided a sense of motion in a still image.

In 1915, GHG began building the group of staff photographers and providing them with advanced tools including the latest darkroom.

In subsequent years, the cover, while keeping its yellow border, shed its oak leaf trim and bare table of contents, to allow for a full-page photograph taken for one of the month's articles.

The first supplement map, which appeared in the May 1918 issue of the magazine, titled The Western Theatre of War, served as a reference for overseas military personnel and soldiers' families alike.

[44] Newsstand sales, which began in 1998, ceased in 2023, following a year of layoffs and a shift in focus to digital formats amid the decline of the print media industry.

In several countries, such as Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine, National Geographic paved the way for a subscription model in addition to traditional newsstand sales.

[52] The cover of the October 1988 issue featured a photo of a large ivory portrait of a male, whose authenticity, particularly the alleged ice age provenance, has been questioned.

[55] After the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, National Geographic published maps with the Crimean peninsula marked as "contested", contrary to international norms.

[56][57] In March 2018, the editor of National Geographic, Susan Goldberg, said that historically the magazine's coverage of people around the world had been racist.

[58] This is a list of National Geographic milestones featuring turning points in the magazine's history including writing and photography assignments, design aspects, cartography and sponsored expeditions.