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The first issue of the National Geographic Magazine was published on September 22, 1888, nine months after the Society was founded. In the first issue, Gardiner Greene Hubbard writes,

The "National Geographic Society" has been organized to "increase and defuse geographic knowledge", and the publication of a Magazine has been determined upon as one means of accomplishing these purposes.

It was initially a scholarly journal sent to 165 charter members; in 2010, it reached the hands of 40 million people each month.

Starting with its January 1905 publication of several full-page pictures of Tibet in 1900–01, the magazine began to transition from being a text-oriented publication to featuring extensive pictorial content.

By 1908 more than half of the magazine's pages were photographs. The June 1985 cover portrait of a 12-year-old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, shot by photographerSteve McCurry, became one of the magazine's most recognizable images

National Geographic Partners, LLC is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns 73% of the company) and the namesake non-profit scientific organization National Geographic Society (which owns 27%). The company oversees all commercial activities related to the Society, including magazine publications and television channels. The company's board of managers is evenly divided between the Society and Disney.[1]

The enterprise was originally established by 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society. Following the completion of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019, Disney assumed 21CF's 73% share in the joint venture.