MANZHEROK /Altai Region/, June 22. /TASS/. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) plans to offer a tour to the country's northernmost archipelago - Franz Josef Land. During the tour, due in the current year, travelers will be invited to participate in RGS's expedition and to try real science, RGS's head of the department of expeditions and tourism, Natalia Belyakova said.

"This year, we are launching our tourist routes. An expressive example is a tour, a trip, an expedition to Franz Josef Land. We invite tourists to the northernmost and Russia's largest protected area - the Russian Arctic National Park. What makes the route offered by RGS specific is that it is linked to our expedition, where we study seismic-tectonic aspects. Tourists [together with the scientists] will be able to do simple scientific work to try real science. For example, [to take] part in the geological and biological monitoring on the route," she said.

Year 2023 is the 150th anniversary of Franz Josef Land's discovery, she continued. RGS organizes the expedition jointly with the Northern Fleet. The expedition's base will be at Omega - the Russian Arctic National Park's year-round scientific base. Tourist will be invited to conduct research in compliance with the plans the scientists have. RGS cooperates with major research institutions like the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics of the Earth (Moscow), or the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg)

The Russian Arctic National Park is Russia's northernmost and biggest nature reserve, which unites the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago's northern part. The national park's territory is one of the most hard-to-reach territories both in Russia and in the world.