ABSTRACT
In London, the Royal Geographical Society, founded in 1830, began with some 460 members, including a number of distinguished travellers. The Royal Geographical Society has often been accused of obscurantism and traditionalism, and particularly of favouring exploration and mathematical geography at the expense of new thought in the subject. The American Geographical Society, founded in 1851, had much in common with European societies. The year 1878 saw the foundation of three societies, at Oran, Montpellier and Rochefort. Of these the Montpellier society was concerned mainly with local geography, but the Rochefort society attracted many men with a naval background and colonial officials, and paid special attention to Indo-China. The new Geographical Society of Australasia, established in Sydney and Melbourne in 1883, had as its major aim the discovery and commercial advance of its own territory and the development of education in physical, commercial and political geography.
