Military-geographical and military-statistical descriptions of the territories of the military districts of the Russian Empire in the second half of the XIX — beginning of the XX Centuries

This article examines: the development of military geography and military statistics in Russia; the system for overseeing military-geographical and military-statistical research; and the activities of officers of the General Staff of the Russian Empire in preparing military-statistical descriptions of military districts and analyzing their natural, demographic, economic, and other characteristics to support the operations of the armed forces in both peacetime and wartime. Particular attention is paid to the algorithm for the military-geographic description of territory developed by the Advisory (Military-Scientific) Committee of the General Staff in the 1860s and its practical application. The article examines the activities of individual General Staff officers who made significant contributions to the development of military geography and statistics during the period under consideration: L. F. Kostenko, A. S. Benevsky, Minister of War A. N. Kuropatkin, and others.