SSAG was inaugurated under its present name in 1877, as an extension of the activities of the Association for Anthropology founded in 1873.

This was a time of great exploratory expeditions, and the SSAG took a particularly active part in the scientific description of the Arctic region, highlighted by the 'Vega' voyage through the passage north of Siberia led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld in 1878-1879. The symbol of the Society shows a woman with laurel wreaths, a native with a globe, and the Vega ship at a rocky coast.

The spirit of Nordenskiöld permeated much of SSAG's activities with lectures and expeditions by geographer Otto Nordenskjöld to Antarctica in 1901-03, anthropologist Erland Nordenskiöld to South America and by explorer Sven Hedin to Central Asia. But SSAG's activities also included research on Swedish Ethnology (Sigurd Erixon), Baltic urban geography (Sten De Geer) and the beginning of geopolitics (Rudolf Kjellén), to name a few of renowned members during the first fifty years.

In recent years SSAG is more dedicated to the popularization of the three disciplines and to current topics, e.g. environmental degradation, physical planning, political geography and questions of underdevelopment. The gold medalists of later years include Eric Bylund 2000, Sherry B. Ortner 2001, Lonnie G. Thompson 2002, Doreen Massey 2003 and Tim Ingold, 2004.

The present activities of SSAG include

• meetings with lectures on topics of member interest
• annual meetings where doctoral students present ongoing research
• bi-annual excursions
• Vega day, April 24, when the Society's medals are awarded and a symposium is held on a topic chosen by the medalist.
• scholarships granted to doctoral students for projects including travel and other expenses
• publications: Geografiska Annaler, series A, Physical Geography, Geografiska Annaler, series B, Human Geography (both in English) , Årsboken Ymer (in Swedish).

SSAG co-operates with local and professional associations of Geographers and Anthropologists in Sweden and is a member of EU- GEO, The European Geographical Society.

SSAG
Baltic and East European Graduate School
Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge Sweden

Publications

Geografiska Annaler, series A: Physical Geography

Geografiska Annaler, series A, is a prestigious journal presenting new scientific results in the field of physical geography, glaciology and related subjects, with some emphasis on polar areas. The journal includes new ideas, methods and original research results which may stimulate work within various geo-sciences. Geografiska Annaler, series A is supported by the Swedish Research Council.

Four issues a year are published in English by Blackwells.

Geografiska Annaler, series B: Human Geography

Geografiska Annaler, series B, is a prestigious and international journal publishing articles covering all theoretical and empirical aspects of human and economic geography. The journal has no specific regional profile but some attention is paid to research from the Nordic countries, as well as from countries around the Baltic Sea.

Four issues a year are published in English by Blackwells.

Ymer

Geography and Anthropology yearbook, themes include: The Balkans in 2003; The Sun in 2004; Central Asia in 2005.