One of the initiators and founders, as well as the first director of the Institute, was Academician Petar S. Jovanović. Among the directors of the Institute were also Academician Pavle Vujević, Academician Milisav Lutovac, Prof. Dr. Dušan Dukić, Dr. Milovan V. Radovanović, Dr. Milan Bursać, and others. Since 2008, the position of Director has been held by Dr. Milan Radovanović.
The Institute is headquartered in Belgrade, at 9 Đure Jakšića Street. The Institute occasionally has research units in major centers across Serbia, while an active research department operates in Novi Sad.
The Geographical Institute was founded on 31 May 1947 within the Serbian Academy of Sciences (SANU). The Institute is a scientific institution and a unit of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, whose primary activity is the organization and systematic advancement of scientific research in the field of geography and related scientific disciplines. The scientific activities of the Institute are carried out in accordance with the Law on Scientific Research Activities of the Republic of Serbia and the established research program orientation.
The Institute achieves its primary objectives through fundamental, applied, and developmental scientific research in the fields of physical geography; population and settlement geography; social geography; regional geography; cartography; and spatial planning. In particular, the Institute’s mission is to study spatial phenomena, objects, forms, relationships, conditions, and processes within the geographical environment. The research covers the territory of Serbia, as well as wider areas of the Balkan Peninsula, Southern and Central Europe, Europe, and the world.
The Geographical Institute publishes the works of its researchers in the editions Collected Papers and Special Publications. By 2025, a total of 75 issues of Collected Papers and 103 monographs had been published.
