Anton Melik Geographical Institute

The Anton Melik Geographical Institute was founded in 1946 by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and in 1976 it was named after the Slovene geographer and academy member Anton Melik (1890-1966), who was the first head of the institute. Since 1981, the institute has been one a members of the Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Until 1992 the institute was mainly engaged with researching glaciers, glacial and fluvial transformation of the land surface, flooded areas, natural disasters, mountain farms, in Slovenia and social geography. Since 1993 the institute's main task has been to conduct geographical studies of Slovenia and its landscapes and to prepare basic geographical texts on Slovenia as a country and as a part of the world.

Research is mostly directed towards physical, social, and regional geography and thematic cartography. Today it has nine organization units:

* the Department of Physical Geography,
* the Department of Social Geography,
* the Department of Regional Geography,
* the Department of Natural Disasters,
* the Department of Environmental Protection,
* the Department of the Geographical Information System,
* the Department of Thematic Cartography,
* the Geographical Museum, and
* the Geographical Library. The institute also houses a map collection and three specialized geographical collections: Landscapes of Slovenia, Settlements of Slovenia, and Glaciers of Slovenia. The institute is also headquarters of the Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (Komisija za standardizacijo zemljepisnih imen Vlade Republike Slovenije).

The Institute publishes three scholarly publications. "Geografija Slovenije" (Geography of Slovenia) is a series of books that appears in Slovene once or twice a year. "Acta geographica Slovenica/Geografski zbornik" is a journal published twice a year in English and Slovene. The articles can be downloaded in Slovene or English from the institute homepage ( [http://www.zrc-sazu.si/gi/publications.htm www.zrc-sazu.si/gi/publications.htm] ). "Geografski informacijski sistemi v Sloveniji" (Geographical Information Systems in Slovenia) is a bulletin published every second (even) year in Slovene.

See also

* United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names

External links

* [http://giam.zrc-sazu.si/ The Institute webpage]