Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen (Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen; 1833-1905) was a German traveller, geographer and scientist.

He travelled or studied in Tirol, Transylvania, much of Asia (where he visited Ceylon, Japan, Formosa, the Celebes, Java, the Philippines, Siam, Burma between 1860 and 1862), and California (where he stayed between 1863 and 1868, his geological investigations resulting in the discovery of goldfields). From 1868 to 1872 he made seven expeditions to China, where, among other achievements, he located the dried-up lake bed of Lopnur.

He was also Professor of Geology at Bonn beginning in 1875. Professor of Geography at the University of Leipzig 1883, and Professor of Geography at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin 1886. Among his most famous students was Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer. He served as President of the German Geographical Society for many years, and founded the Berlin Hydrographical Institute.

Ferdinand von Richthofen was an uncle of the World War I flying ace "the Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen.

The mountain range on the southern edge of the Gansu corridor in western China was named Richthofen Range after him, although the modern name is now Qilian Mountains .

Publications

• 1866 - Comstock Lode: Its Character, and the Probable Mode of Its Continuance in Depth
• 1877-1912 - China: The results of My Travels and the Studies Based Thereon (5 vols. and atlas)