Social-Economic Geography of Foreign Countries

Department of Social-Economic Geography of Foreign Countries was founded in 1934 for studying in a new field — socio-economic regional research. A large team of educators and researchers was formed here, focusing on the social geography of foreign countries. The key feature of studying at the department is the series of regional studies courses that cover all parts of the world and the geography of major countries (USA, China, Japan, and Germany). In addition to traditional branches of economic geography such as industry, agriculture, and transportation, the study of intangible sectors such as finance, management, services, and trade has also been added. At the department students take courses in historical, population and political geography, cultural geography, urban studies, countries typology, political and geographical aspects of international law and the problems of socio-geographical regionalization. An essential part of education at the department is working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), compiling socio-economic maps and using applied mathematical, statistical, econometric techniques and learning foreign languages such as English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.

An important part of the education process is educational and practical training. Long-distance educational training introduces students to the real and complex socio-economic issues of different countries and regions in the world, allowing them to see firsthand the geographical differences in society and try their hand at different field surveys. The tradition of conducting internships abroad continues in developed countries in Western Europe (Great Britain, Scandinavia, and the Alpine region) as well as in the United States and a number of developing countries, such as those in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, and Turkey. Practical training takes place in different applied organizations that correspond to the student's area of interest or in scientific institutions.

During the educational process, students write term papers and theses on a variety of topics, including the geography of population, industry and transport, trade and agriculture, electoral geography, the territorial organization of society, and regional policy. The most interesting papers are presented at student conferences and published in the department's scientific collections and geographical journals.

The profile of our graduates is that of geographers, specializing in the economic, social, and political geography of foreign countries. Our graduates work in various fields, including scientific institutes such as the Russian Academy of Sciences, ministries, economic and information departments of public and private companies, and consulting firms that work with foreign countries. They also work as experts and researchers in the fields of territorial analysis, regional policy, and social processes within regions.

The main scientific topic of the Department for the period 2021–2025 is «Theory and Practice of Evolutionary Regional Studies in the Context of Global Challenges». The main areas of scientific research include the theory of regional studies, economics of foreign countries, political and cultural geography, socio-economic mapping methods, socio-economics of countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Africa.

Annual scientific readings by I.A. Vitver — V.V. Volsky on the most important issues of socioeconomic geography of foreign countries and Smirnyagin readings on social geography and readings in honor of O.V. Vitkovsky on political geography take place at the department every year. 

Scientific collaborations

International relations are very diverse, including scientific trips and internships, the exchange of interns, lectures, and reports. Among the permanent partners are universities from the USA (Minnesota), Great Britain (Oxford and Birmingham), Germany (Marburg, Jena, and Heidelberg), France (Paris 1 and 10), and Japan (Hitotsubishi and Meiji).

Staff