The Anton Melik Geographical Institute ( sl, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika) was founded in 1946 by the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members ...

. In 1976 it was named after the Slovene

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and academy member Anton Melik (1890–1966), who was the first head of the institute. Since 1981, the institute has been a member of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Until 1992 the institute was mainly engaged with researching

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s, glacial and fluvial transformations of land surfaces,

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ed areas, natural disasters, mountain farms, and social geography. Since 1993 the institute's main task has been to conduct geographical studies of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

and its landscapes and to prepare basic geographical texts on

as a country and as part of the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. Research is mostly directed toward physical, social, and regional geography and thematic

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

Facilities

It has nine organizational units: * Department of

Physical Geography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere ...

* Department of

Social Geography Social geography is the branch of human geography that is interested in the relationships between society and space, and is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomen ...

* Department of

Regional Geography Regional geography is a major branch of geography. It focuses on the interaction of different cultural and natural geofactors in a specific land or landscape, while its counterpart, systematic geography, concentrates on a specific geofactor at the ...

* Department of

Natural Disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

s * Department of

Environmental Protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

* Department of the Geographical Information System * Department of Thematic Cartography * Geographical Museum * Geographical Library The institute houses a map collection and three specialized geographical collections: Landscapes of Slovenia, Settlements of Slovenia, and Glaciers of Slovenia. It is 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'').

Publications

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 ''Acta Geographica Slovenica'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of geography published by the Anton Melik Geographical Institute covering human geography, physical geography, and regional geography. The editor-in-chief is Blaž Komac (Anton ...

'' is a journal published twice a year in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and Slovene. The articles can be downloaded in Slovene or English from th
journal homepage
''Geografski informacijski sistemi v Sloveniji'' (Geographical Information Systems in Slovenia) is a bulletin published every second (even) year in Slovene.

External links

The Institute website
{{authority control Geography of Slovenia Research institutes in Slovenia Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Geography organizations Research institutes established in 1946 Scientific organizations in Ljubljana 1946 establishments in Slovenia

Facilities

Publications

See also

External links