A significant aspect of the institutional organization of geographers in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the legal and formal establishment of theDivision of Geography as part of one of the six teaching and scientific units of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, which was established by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 120 of February 14th, 1950. During the first decade of work, the professors of the Division of Geography, in cooperation with the Geographical Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized a large number of educational activities for geography teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus contributing to the realization of their first essential task – the improvement of all aspects of the implementation of geography lessons in primary and secondary schools. In parallel with the above, numerous complex and component pieces of research were realized in different regions, ensuring the primacy of geographers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the geographical study of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A new qualitative step forward in the institutional organization of geographers in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the formation of the Faculty of Science of the University of Sarajevo on December 1st, 1960. The Department of Geography began its work as one of five separate departments within the Faculty of Science of the University of Sarajevo. The organization of the teaching process is realized through teaching-scientific subjects in the Department of Geology, Department of Physical Geography, Department of Social Geography, Department of Regional Geography, and Cabinet for Geography in Education. During this period of the development of geography, the activities on the differentiation of complex geographical studies of spatial reality through the specialized components of scientific studies, united within the basic geographical areas of geology, physical geography, social geography, regional geography, and geography teaching methodology, began.

The innovative curriculum, harmonized with the Bologna process in the full-time teaching process, in the first and second cycle of studies in the geography in education study program, study programs in tourism and environmental protection, and regional and spatial planning began in the academic year 2005/2006.The first cycle of studies in all three study programs of the Department of Geography is conducted in four academic years (with a total of 240 ECTS) and upon its completion, the title of baccalaureate/bachelor of the appropriate study area is obtained. The second cycle of studies in all three fields of study is carried out in one academic year (60 ECTS), upon completion of which the master’s degree in the appropriate field of study is obtained. The third cycle of studies is also organized for all three study areas in three academic years (180 ECTS), upon completion of which the academic title of Ph.D. in Geographical Sciences/Sciences of the appropriate study area is obtained.

The teaching process at the Department of Geography is organized through the following sub-organizational units: Division of Physical Geography, Division of Social Geography, Division of Regional Geography, Division of Geology, Center for GIS, Institute for Regional and Spatial Planning, and Cabinet for Geography in Education. Component scientific disciplines according to their basic object and subject of study at the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo are grouped into the following main scientific areas: physical geography, social geography, regional geography, regional and spatial planning, tourism, geoecology, geographic information system (GIS) and theoretical geography. Each of the mentioned parent scientific fields unites related subject-specific disciplines/fields, which are further differentiated into adequate scientific sub-disciplines of a theoretical or applied nature. The aforementioned main scientific areas are the backbone of education and academic training of both the teaching staff of the Department of Geography, as well as the participants in the regular teaching process at all educational levels.

With the aforementioned educational concept, the contemporary Sarajevo school of geography has implemented the aforementioned applied geographic orientation, that is, it has made its full contribution to the education of experts in the field of tourism, environmental protection, regional and spatial planning and GIS. Also, by implementing this concept of study, the current generation of geographers at the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics has concretized the essence of the introductory words of prof. Ph.D. Husein Brkić on the occasion of the publication of the first issue of the Geographical Review (1957), in which he hinted at “the saturation of schools with geography teaching staff and the unemployment crisis”, and in “recognizability of the breadth of the geography profession according to other types of life practice: tourism, traffic, culture, native museums, etc.” recognized the possibilities for the application of geography in various areas of the economy and the development of society in general. More specifically, the mentioned opportunities are based on component and complex studies of natural and social geographical objective reality from the aspect of identification, valorization, and revitalization of natural and social resources of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as their protection.

Applied geography, with the application of specific research methodology, places the valorized and revitalized economic resources in the focus of regional and spatial planning, which has been incorporated into the regional and spatial planning curriculum in the recent educational concept. In the aforementioned planning concepts, special attention is paid to tourism valorization and destination planning as a necessary basis for the development of the tourism industry, which represents one of the strategic development guidelines in the recent and future economic orientation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In correlation with these guidelines, a study program on tourism and environmental protection was formed with a curriculum that correlates to a high degree with contemporary tourism development.

7 full professors, 8 associate – non-tenured positions, 6 associate professors, 3 senior assistants, 2 junior assistants, and 1 professional associateare involved in the teaching-scientific process at the Department of Geography. The Department of Geography has developed intensive cooperation with several teaching and scientific institutions of higher education abroad: Department of Geography of Kingston University, Paris-Sorbonne University, Instituts für Geographie und Raumforschung der Universität Graz, University of Copenhagen, Department of Geography of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Department of Geography of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Primorska in Koper, Department of Geography of the Faculty of Science at the University of Zagreb, Department of Geography of Faculty of Pedagogy at Masaryk University, University of Trier, etc.

The organizational structure of the Department consists of:

• Head of Department
• Secretary of the Department
• Department Council
• Postgraduate Studies Council
• Department of Physical Geography
• Department of Social Geography
• Department of Regional Geography
• Department of Geology
• Cabinet for Methodology of Geography in Education
• Institute for Regional and Spatial Planning
• Center for GIS
• Library