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2025: Pictures of the Year

From thousands of images made by our photographers all around the world, we present the ones that moved and inspired us most.

Published November 18, 2025

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BUILDING A POP-UP MEGACITY

Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India

Every 144 years, India plays host to the world’s largest gathering, the Mahakumbh Mela, a religious festival held at the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati Rivers.

Photographer George Steinmetz attended the 2025 event, along with more than 400 million Hindu pilgrims living in a temporary metropolis constructed for the occasion, to capture the perspective of what it feels like to be “a molecule in this moving mass.”

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Photograph by George Steinmetz

Read more about the making of Mahakumbh Mela

KING'S ORDERS

Luena, Angola

In the misty highlands of Angola, entry to one of southern Africa’s least studied ecosystems is controlled by King Mwene Chivueka VI, leader of the Luchazi people. For generations, his community has venerated an elusive herd of elephants native to the area—which outside scientists have only recently begun tracking, with the king’s permission.
 

Photograph by Jasper Doest

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A BEE’S ZZZs

Davis, California

A sunflower chimney bee rests on a pillow of velvety ochers in the early evening, likely already snoozing after a long day’s work pollinating plants. This species of bee often nests at the base of sunflowers, moving with commercial farmers as they rotate their crops.
 

Photograph by Karine Aigner

RIVER REBIRTH

Baghdad, Iraq

On the banks of the Tigris River, women belonging to the Mandaean faith hold ceremonial wreaths of myrtle as part of the group’s core practice: river baptism. Mandaeanism, among the world’s oldest gnostic religions, reveres John the Baptist as the greatest of all prophets. Since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, followers have faced persecution from extremists and high levels of displacement, which have severely threatened their ancient baptismal customs.

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Photograph by Moises Saman

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SHOULDER TO LEAN ON

Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Neighborhoods throughout the coastal city of Maceió are sinking into the ground after decades of rock salt mining. The destruction has displaced tens of thousands of residents like Damião Carlos da Silva, who was forced into temporary housing nearby after losing his home. He finds solace in the precious moments of life, such as this one shared with his pet chick.
 

Photograph by Maíra Erlich

SIX MILLION ON THE MOVE

South Sudan

A long-awaited aerial wildlife survey released by South Sudan revealed something extraordinary. An estimated six million antelope were documented traversing the eastern plains of the country, changing our understanding of how many animals move across this part of Africa. Photographer Marcus Westberg used a drone to record the phenomenon, the planet’s largest land migration, calling it a “symbol of hope” for a region that has experienced years of civil unrest.
 

Photograph by Marcus Westberg

Go Behind the Scenes

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ELUSIVE PROWLER

Rio Doce State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

While monitoring the burrow of a rare giant armadillo in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, photographer Fernando Faciole came face-to-lens with a different vulnerable animal: the jaguar. Severe deforestation has decimated the population here, and today fewer than a dozen jaguars may remain in the state park where Faciole took this image.

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Photograph by Fernando Faciole

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A DAUGHTER’S GRIEF

Tocoa, Colón, Honduras

Julia López, nine, visits the grave of her father, Juan, who was shot and killed in front of her in September 2024. An outspoken opponent of a local mining operation built on a national park, Juan López was one of 18 known climate defenders killed last year in Honduras. Environmental watchdog organization Global Witness ranks the country among the world’s most dangerous for this kind of activism.

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Photograph by Brent Stirton

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IN THE ARMS OF FAMILY

Poltava Oblast, Ukraine

As the Russian-Ukrainian conflict grinds into another year, life is more fragile than ever. While Tymofii Tsvetkov’s father was away at war, his family’s hometown near the front lines was taken by Russian forces and they fled to a village in central Ukraine, where they have relatives. Soothed by his aunt Olga Grinik, the toddler wears a T-shirt with a sobering proclamation: “My dad serves in the armed forces of Ukraine.”

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Photograph by Anastasia Taylor-Lind

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CHICKEN OR EGG?

Berkeley, California

For years, photographer Anand Varma has attempted to document when an egg yolk can still be seen but a bird form has clearly emerged. He experimented by incubating embryos in artificial shells before finally capturing the transformation at 12 days old. Varma separately raised some embryos to chicks, like the one above, which he donated to people in the community.

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Photograph by Anand Varma

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RIDING TALL

Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina

Diego Paredes, standing on the saddle of his horse, Lobuno, surveys a formerly bustling trade route that cut through this picturesque valley in northern Argentina. With his brother Hugo, Diego takes pride in the new life they bring to the land by leading educational horseback tours with their company, Renaciendo Costumbres (Reviving Traditions).
 

Photograph by Natalia Favre

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THE UNLIKELY HERO

Wisconsin

This two-day-old piglet was bred to save lives. Scientists modified its genes in an attempt to harvest kidneys for human transplantation. Pigs like this represent new hope for the tens of thousands of Americans in desperate need of kidneys, 66 percent of whom remain on the waiting list for more than a year.
 

Photograph by Craig Cutler

Read more about the future of xenotransplantation

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ANOTHER GIANT LEAP

Houston, Texas

NASA’s history-making Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon will launch pilot Victor Glover and three other astronauts some 30,000 miles farther from Earth than any person has gone before. Photographer Micaiah Carter took this picture of Glover as he trains for the unprecedented 10-day journey.
 

Photograph by Micaiah Carter

Read more about the future of lunar exploration

A GREAT SIGHTING

Gulf of Maine

Photographer Brian Skerry has been chronicling marine life for decades, but this is his first picture of a great white shark off the coast of Maine, where he encountered one from four feet away. Sightings of sharks like this 10-footer are increasing from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, due in part to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which allowed seal populations to rebound.

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Photograph by Brian Skerry

Read more about Maine’s flourishing shark population

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LIFE IN THE FLOOD ZONE

Anamã, Brazil

Relieved by the return of the wet season after two years of unprecedented drought, residents of Anamã, a town on an Amazon River floodplain, played volleyball in waist-high water and navigated the streets by boat. But the magnitude of flooding also reflects an instability brought on by climate change, as residents adapt by raising their homes on higher stilts.

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Photograph by Lalo de Almeida

STAR POWER

Greifswald, Germany

With an eye toward solving the global energy crisis, scientists are developing powerful nuclear fusion devices called stellarators. This model was created at a German lab where international researchers built a much larger one that generated an astonishing 54 million-degree-Fahrenheit reaction. For a record-breaking 43 seconds, it was the hottest entity in the entire solar system—including the sun’s center.

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Photograph by Paolo Verzone

Read more about the race to build mechanical stars

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PROTECTING PARADISE

Tinakula, Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands are home to some of the most diverse coral reefs on the planet. Earlier this year, the island nation pledged to preserve 59 million acres of its marine waters—including the seas surrounding this lush isle—which make up part of a vital aquatic region called the Coral Triangle that spans six countries and contains 76 percent of the world’s coral species.

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Photograph by Manu San Félix

DOORS ON THE BORDER

Cuenca Los Ojos Reserve, Sonora, Mexico

Along the rugged Mexico-United States border, enormous walls are interrupting the migration patterns of native species. So-called doggie doors (around the size of an eight-by-11-inch sheet of paper) put in by the U.S. government offer a novel solution for smaller creatures like this javelina to pass through—but don’t accommodate black bears or white-tailed deer.

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Photograph by Jaime Rojo

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BETTER BY A BUNCH

Tamil Nadu, India

As dusk falls, Shyamala Gunasekaran finds peace on her organic banana farm. Many commercial operations in India use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but Gunasekaran has committed herself to following sustainable agriculture practices as part of the larger Save Soil movement to help restore the planet’s soil.

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Photograph by John Stanmeyer

Go Behind the Scenes

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Read the full story at

National Geographic Magazine - December 2025 

Pictures of the Year

https://www.natgeosubscriptions.com/product-page/december-2025-ngm-single-copy

Discover other interesting topics at

https://www.natgeosubscriptions.com/specialissuecatalogue

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