The International Geographical Union before its centennial: new challenges and developments

Abstract

The International Geographical Union (IGU, www.igu-online.org) is the only truly global organization reuniting geographers from about 100 countries – scholars, teachers, practitioners. It is one of the oldest academic associations in the world. The IGU was officially founded under the auspices of the International Research Council in Brussels in 1922, having been conceived some years earlier in Paris. However this debut was formal: the IGU was established as part of the broader organization of inter-national science that occurred in the early decades of the last century. Its creation was preceded by ten International Geographical Congresses, the first of which was held in Antwerp in 1871. The IGU is preparing to solemnly celebrate its centennial soon at the extraordinary congress symbolically planned in Belgium and France: a special commission comprising well known geographers from all over the world should suggest a great number of events devoted to this date.