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The Geographical Review July 1996, 86(3), pp. 334-355. The Venezuelan Andes and the Geographical Imagination Marie D. Price ABSTRACT: The geographical imagination works in many ways, but regions are perhapsthe most common spatial abstraction geographers create and diffuse. Theconstruction of regions is more than a territorial matter, because generalizationsabout society and culture are embedded within regional boundaries. Regionsas heuristic tools are not static; they are modified with shifts in settlement,political economy, national identity, or cultural perception. To illustratethis point, I explore Andean regional awareness in Venezuela. The imageof the Andes, which did not emerge until the early nineteenth century, passedthrough three phases--integration, decline, and cultural refuge. I arguethat a reinvigorated regional geography should consider questions of origin,evolution, nation building, position in the world economy, and the roleof the geographical imagination. Keywords: Andes, geographical thought, regional geography, Venezuela. DR PRICE is an associate professor of geography at the George WashingtonUniversity, Washington, D.C. 20052. To contact the author: Prof. Marie D. Price Department of Geography & Regional Science 619 21st Street, N.W. The George Washington University Washington, D.C. 20052 Phone: (202) 994-6187, (202) 994-2484 fax Email: mprice@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu