Abstract: | The geography curriculum of universities is analyzed in terms of the total number of class-hours allocated to various groups of subjects: systematic geography, regional geography, specialization courses, courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics, and education courses. It is suggested that systematic courses could be strengthened by introduction of more courses on theoretical subjects, such as the fundamentals of landscape science and the theory of economic geography. Regional courses suffer from excessive factual material and not enough discussion of general patterns and concepts. Courses that shape the specialization of geographers should be more flexible in order to reflect continuing changes in emphasis in geographic research (for example, by introduction of a course in remote-sensing techniques). A background in the exact sciences is thought to be essential for the modern geographer. |