“When I was 8 years old, my parents paid a smuggler to take me across the Himalayas, a weekslong walk over the mountains from Tibet to India. It was a trek that tens of thousands of other Tibetans have taken since the Dalai Lama fled a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. My parents must have had their reasons to send me here; they must have had the best of intentions. But 18 years later, I still don't know why they did it. They are not political people. They are small farmers who raise barley and a few yak in a rural area not far from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. I have not seen them since I left...”. – Tsering Topgyal via The Associated Press. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)

“Locusts & Men”. Oppression, interaction, collaboration. In the life cycle of nature nothing is lost, but the coexistence of different species is sometimes difficult. In Madagascar periodically returns the archaic antagonism between man and the migratory locust, in a circle of life where the two species are looking for space and food for their survival. At the end of the day a man walks home carrying on his shoulders the heavy bag which contains the locusts captured during the day. The insects provide nutritious meals for the man and his family. Photo location: Madagascar, 2013. (Photo and caption by Michele Martinelli/National Geographic Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Brazilian navy soldiers watch a woman as they patrol the area at the Copacabana Beach before carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil February 14, 2017. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

Andre Krumbiegel drives in a «SIL» pointed plough through the pink fog of a smoke body in Saxony, Germany on October 2, 2019. The occasion is the forthcoming Eastern Bloc meeting on 6 October in Großhartmannsdorf, to which motor vehicles and commercial vehicles from former socialist countries can be brought, exhibited and demonstrated. Photo by Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/Keystone)

Motoring enthusiasts take part in the “Race The Wave” classic car meet on the beach at Bridlington, Britain on June 18, 2022. (Photo by Lee Smith/Reuters)

People visit the artwork titled Seven Magic Mountains by artist Ugo Rondinone, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, near Jean, Nev. The artwork was recently completed in the desert south of Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

“Honorable Mention”. An Indian rhinoceros, far from home and stuck inside with late-winter blues at the Toronto zoo. Photo location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo and caption by Stephen De Lisle/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Though schools around the globe have different start dates, calendars and traditions, the first day of a new term is an exciting time filled with the prospects of gaining more knowledge, making new friends and building community. Here: Schoolchildren attend their first lesson on Knowledge Day in the town of Turov, Zhytkavichy District, Gomel Region, Belarus on September 1, 2017. Knowledge Day marks the beginning of a new school year in Belarus and is celebrated on September 1. (Photo by Viktor Drachev/TASS via Getty Images)