Geography in Russia

glories and disappointments

David M. Hooson

pp. 225-243

in: Gary S. Dunbar (ed), Geography: discipline, profession and subject since 1870, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

Few countries have had a more tortured history over the past century or so than Russia (or the Soviet Union as it was dubbed for most of that time). However, its story is packed with intellectual excitement and has displayed an originality that has derived from its distinctive geographical and historical context. The evolution of Geography as an academic discipline has closely followed the discovery and exploration of this vast part of the world and the experience of living and working in its natural regions and its ambiguous position between Europe and Asia. Its medieval roots and its "frontier" continental spread mean that it has also been, in many ways, Europe and North America rolled into one over the last two centuries.