Pan–American Institute of Geography and History

Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (IPGH), an organization created by the Sixth International Conference of American States, which took place in Havana, Cuba, in January 1928, to promote inter-American cooperation in geography, history, and related areas. In 1929 the Mexican government provided the IPGH with the building that has served as its headquarters to the present day. A 1949 accord with the Organization of American States (OAS) established the IPGH as the first specialized body of the OAS. The statutes approved in 1969 continue to guide the organization.

The IPGH contains several agencies of a Pan-American nature: General Assembly, Directing Council, four commissions (cartography, geography, history, and geophysics), and the General Secretariat. In the General Assembly, eight authorities are elected: a president, two vice presidents, four commission presidents, and a secretary general. Also functioning are an Authorities Assembly, an Advisory Committee on Planning and Financial Evaluation, and the committees and task forces of the four commissions. At the national level, there are national departments composed of representatives to the Pan-American commissions and committees. These departments are administered by locally designated authorities.

See alsoPan-American Conferences: Havana Conference (1928) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pan American Institute of Geography and History, The Pan-American Institute of Geography and History: Its Creation, Development, and Current Program, 1929–1954 (1954), and El Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia: Organismo Especializado de la OEA, 1928–1978 (1978).

Additional Bibliography

Monroy Cabra, Marco Gerardo. El sistema interamericano. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Juricentro, 1993.

Sheinin, David. The Organization of American States. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1996.

                                  Leopoldo F. RodrÍguez