With a presence in nearly every city and town across Iran, the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps has an ever-increasing influence on life in the Islamic Republic. Authorities created the Basij, which means mobilization in Persian, just after the country's 1979 Islamic Republic. It is part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Photo: In this Thursday, August 22, 2013 photo, a female member of the Basij paramilitary militia aims a rifle as a trainer looks over her shoulder in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

“Inspired by the French authorities' solution to move Romas from point A to point B, Romanian authorities planned and started forced evictions of Roma informal settlements in cities like Cluj-Napoca and Baia Mare. Some of these settlements date back to the early 1990’s. These communities were tolerated by the authorities who verbally encouraged Romas to build in the area, meanwhile, reassuring them nothing bad would ever happen to them. However, the the reality today is that during political campaigns, authorities are planning forced evictions without reasons other than ethnic cleansing of the cities. My home documents the every day life of Roma communities in Romania, 2011”. – Mugur Varzariu. (Photo by Mugur Varzariu, 2011 FotoVisura Grant Finalist)

In this June 12, 2017 photo, a woman stands in front of a mural on the slope in Central district, Hong Kong. Once known as Victoria after the British queen, Hong Kong island's waterfront formed the core of the British settlement after Hong Kong island was handed over as a colony in 1842. Today as Hong Kong approaches the 20th anniversary of its return to China, it remains a bustling commercial and financial center as well as the location of the main government offices. However, along the streets that angle sharply upward toward the mountains above, a more relaxed pace of life endures. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Peasants in the re-taken Somme District work in the fields, circa 1916- 1917, in this Library of Congress handout photo. For women 100 years ago, opportunities to work beyond the home and take part in political life were very limited. As the 20th century progressed, hard-won progress included gradually improved voting rights, while the upheaval of war pushed doors ajar as women worked as part of the war effort. U.S. Library of Congress archive photos show women's workplaces ranging from a flour mill in England to a coal mine in Belgium or Lincoln Motor Co.'s welding department in Detroit. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. (Photo by Reuters/Bain Collection/Library of Congress)

“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler 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.

Galapagos – Rocking the Cradle: Four major ocean currents converge along the Galapagos archipelago, creating the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of animal life, April 25, 2016. The islands are home to at least 7,000 flora and fauna species, of which 97 percent of the reptiles, 80 percent of the land birds, 50 percent of the insects and 30 percent of the plants are endemic. (Photo by Thomas P. Peschak for National Geographic/World Press Photo)

A handout photo made available by the NASA shows the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun, from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA, 12 August 2018. Parker Solar Probe is humanity’s first-ever mission into a part of the Sun’s atmosphere called the corona. Here it will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/EPA-EFE/NASA)

“These creepy pictures of abandoned asylums, prisons and schools give a sense of what life was like in institutions of 20th century America. Photographer Daniel Barter, 30, captured on film bowling alleys, theatres and hairdressing salons all completely intact. The Londoner was on travelling through Americas north eastern states when he had the chance to explore the derelict public buildings left untouched since their last inhabitants shut the doors”. – Caters News. Photo: Salon equipment inside a sanatorium in New York. (Photo by Daniel Barter/Caters News)