IGU




International Geographical Union

	History
		The International Geographical Union was established in Brussels in 1922. However, the history of international meetings of geographers is much longer. The first of a series of congresses met in 1871 in Antwerp. Since its early days the Union has consisted of three major components: a General Assembly of the delegates appointed by the member countries which meets at the time of the Congress and is the highest authority of the Union; an Executive Committee which consists of a President, eight Vice-Presidents and a Secretary-General and Treasurer; Commissions and Study Groups which continue their work between General Assembly meetings. The working languages of the Union are English and French. Senior Officers of the IGU 1949-2000 Presidents 1949-52 George B. Cressey, USA 1952-56 L. Dudley Stamp, UK 1956-60 Hans W. Ahlmann, Sweden 1960-64 Carl Troll, Germany 1964-68 Shiba P. Chatterjee, India 1968-72 Stanislaw Leszcycki, Poland 1972-76 Jean Dresch, France 1976-80 Michael J. Wise, UK 1980-84 Akin L. Mabogunje, Nigeria 1984-88 Peter Scott, Australia 1988-92 Roland J. Fuchs, USA 1992-96 Herman Th. Verstappen, The Netherlands 1996-2000 Bruno Messerli, Switzerland Secretaries-General and Treasurers 1949-56 George H. T. Kimble 1956-68 Hans Boesch, Switzerland 1968-76 Chauncy D. Harris, USA 1976-84 Walther Manshard, Germany 1984-92 Leszek A. Kosi_ski, Canada 1992-2000 Eckart Ehlers, Germany

			2000 IGU Special Committee on Communications and Networking