THE GEOGRAPHY OF OCEANS AND ITS BASIC PROBLEMS

The study of oceans as a subfield of geography has gained acceptance in the Soviet Union. Some universities have introduced courses in marine geography, and geographers have participated in oceanographic research voyages. An effort is made here to define the place of a marine geography within the geographic discipline as a whole, to set the spatial limits for geographical investigations of the oceans and to suggest problem areas suitable for geographical analysis. In keeping with the Soviet dichotomy, physical and economic geographic problems are distinguished. Physical-geographic problem areas would include study of oceanic water masses; large-scale interaction between oceans and atmosphere; study of island environments, and the biogeography of oceans. Economic geographic problems would focus both on theoretical aspects, such as spatial regularities in human activities related to oceans, and on applied aspects, providing a sound basis for economic development of ocean areas.     

THE NATURE OF POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND WAYS OF INCREASING ITS GEOGRAPHICAL CONTENT

Political geography's essence and place in the system of Soviet geographical sciences are assessed and key elements of political geographical analysis defined. The latter include the space-time paradigm, the principle of territoriality, the study of center-periphery relationships, analysis of regional planning policy and theory, consideration of the role of the church and armed forces, and the importance of political geographical regionalization. Examples of Soviet work and thinking in many of these areas are provided (translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK).     

西方新区域地理学的发展及其对我国区域经济地理研究的启示

近20年来,西方区域地理学发生了巨大变化。从80年代开始,出现了一种新的区域地理学。与传统区域地理学相比,新区域地理学倾向于结构主义、现实主义和后现代主义的哲学思维。强调区域的个性,强调人的能力及角色与社会结构在区域特性的形成与发展的作用。新区域地理学的核心概念是“地方”、“行为主体”、“体系”。在具体的区域研究中,它不仅注重当地的人及其它因素的重要性,也很重视“人”的各种行为背景,并且也重视来自“体系”的外部大环境的影响。本认为,新区域地理学的研究观点和方法对我国区域经济地理的研究具有启示意义,并主张在我国的区域研究中,应从对“地”的关注转向对“人”及“人地关系”的关注,发展中国的新区域地理学。     

VON THUNEN AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS WORK FOR THE GEOGRAPHY OF AGRICULTURE

Von Thünen's classical model of agricultural location was published in the Soviet Union in Russian translation in 1926, a hundred years after its original publication in Germany, but was soon denounced as a bourgeois theory seeking to optimize location from the point of view of minimizing production costs or maximizing the profit of the entrepreneur. The view that the von Thünen model was not applicable to Soviet conditions was stated as late as 1966 in Vol. V of the Kratkaya geograficheskaya entsiklopediya [Short Geographical Encyclopedia], pp. 196, 525. A Moscow University agricultural geographer, in reassessing the von Thünen model, now points out that its objective of determining optimal production systems for a given set of physical (land quality) and economic (market) conditions is shared by anyone who seeks the most highly cost-effective form of agriculture in a particular setting.