Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography, U.S.S.R. (Главное управление геодезии и картографии, or GUGK; 1939 – 1991) traced its roots to the early years of the Soviet Union, when the Higher Geodetic Administration (Высшее геодезическое управление, VGU) was created to centralize and direct topographic, geodetic, and cartographic work in the new state. However, as a branch office of the Supreme Council of National Economy with little authority and a small staff, it was not able to achieve these lofty goals. In 1925, VGU was moved to the State Planning Commission (Gosplan) and underwent several organizational changes, but problems of coordination persisted. In 1935, the office was placed under the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and in 1939 renamed the Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGK) under the USSR Council of Ministers, the form it would take until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. With its structure and authority settled, GUGK went on to produce many thousands of maps of the Soviet Union, other territories, and the world in several languages over the course of its existence. The successor to GUGK was the Federal Agency for Geodesy and Cartography (Roskartografiya), which existed from 1991 until 2009, when it was replaced with the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr).



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