Results and Outlook of Geographical Research in the Cross-Border Area between Russia and Mongolia at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

This article presents key research results of the cooperation between the Sochava Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Siberian Branch) and the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Focus areas and priority directions of collaborative research, resulting in the creation of complex atlases, joint monographs, and other research publications, are described. Particular attention is given to the results of studies of remote areas of the Khövsgöl region. The authors emphasize that the landscapes of cross-border areas are developed very unevenly and require a specially designed approach to the management of natural resources and to the predicting environmental response to negative influences. Priority directions of further geographic and geoecological research related to the study of transportation infrastructure and their socioeconomic consequences are described. Another important research direction is the study of interactions between cultures in different time periods.