See all 10 of the top photographs and find out how perseverance—and a ton of patience—got Karthik Subramaniam the grand-prize-winning shot.

Spanning the globe from Afghanistan to Texas, these imagemakers tell the important stories of humans, nature, and how they intersect.

The Apostle Islands, surrounded by the notoriously treacherous waters of Lake Superior, are home to thick forests, diverse wildlife, and the spiritual center of the Ojibwe people.

Native to the Scottish Highlands, these color-changing mammals thrive in tough winter conditions. But now there’s less snow.

From tarantulas to jumping spiders, these intimate portraits of arachnids show how unique, beautiful, and even charming they are.

From substances like artificial vanilla and vitamin C, a photographer creates a realm of enchantment.

From Amelia Earhart to Percy Fawcett’s expedition to the Lost City of Z, the fate of these five explorers remains mysterious.

Obsessed with a treasure city, conquistador Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa. To spare his life, the emperor offered up the largest cache of gold the Spanish ever acquired in the...

Curators are realizing that returning looted artifacts isn’t closing museums—it’s opening new doors. “The ethnographic museum of the past is making its way to the exit.”

First thought to belong to an English lady-in-waiting, the lavish silk clothing from a 17th-century Dutch vessel is just one of many mysteries surrounding the last voyage of the Palmwood Wreck.

National Geographic photographers captured moments of resilience, levity, and victory in a challenging year.

On a mission to explore biodiversity in South America, Renan Ozturk hiked nearly 60 miles, then climbed to the top of a stone plateau, or tepui—where he took the shot on this month’s cover.

The remains from nine individuals apparently stashed in a cave by hyenas is just one example of recent finds that reveal new details of Neanderthal life.