The Cartography Laboratory continues the teaching and research in the field of cartography that began at the University of Warsaw in 1950. The Department of Cartography was established in November 1950, together with the Departments of Physical Geography and Economic Geography. Two years later, these departments formed the Geographical Institute of the University of Warsaw. 

The founder and first head of the Department was Stanisław Pietkiewicz (1894–1986), a geographer with a broad background in natural sciences and wide-ranging interests. He studied hydrology and geomorphology and was an excellent topographer employed during the interwar period at the Military Geographical Institute in Warsaw. Professor Pietkiewicz’s cartographic interests focused mainly on two areas: the development of a concept for a school wall general geographic map, and the history of cartography. Based on the experience gained from supervising numerous master’s theses, the Department developed seven wall maps of Polish regions at a scale of 1:250,000, presenting topography with hypsometric shading and selected economic features. These maps were published by the State Cartographic Publishing Company between 1960 and 1965.

Lech Ratajski (1921–1977) became head of the Department in 1966. He introduced a new direction in teaching, which involved the development—within master’s theses—of socio-economic maps and later comprehensive wall maps. The main theme of Ratajski’s scientific work became the theory of cartography. He is best known for his concept of cartology and for his research on generalization and standardization of cartographic symbols. He was twice elected Vice President of the International Cartographic Association, and it was thanks to his initiative that the ICA International Cartographic Conference was held in Warsaw in 1982.

After the unexpected death of Lech Ratajski, his colleague Bogodar Winid (1922–1996) became the new head of the Department of Cartography. With his extensive international contacts, he initiated, among other things, conferences of cartographic journal editors. In 1980, the Department was taken over by Wiktor Grygorenko (1927–2008), a specialist in mathematical cartography and topography, and author of a comprehensive textbook on the compilation of general geographic maps.

In the 1990s, changes occurred in the education of geography students specializing in cartography. This was made possible by the creation of a computer lab for students. The thematic scope of master’s theses broadened, with an increasing number of topics related to tourist maps, city plans, cartographic presentation methods, and computer cartography.

From 1997 to 2011, the Department was headed by Jacek Pasławski, a specialist in cartographic methodology, followed by Wiesław Ostrowski (until 2014), whose research interests focused on cartographic semiotics, cartographic generalization, and the theory of cartographic modeling. Both completed their cartographic specialization under the guidance of S. Pietkiewicz and wrote their doctoral theses under the supervision of L. Ratajski.

In 2013, the Department of Cartography was transformed into the Cartography Laboratory. The following year, it was merged with the Laboratories of Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing to form the Laboratory of Geoinformatics, Cartography and Remote Sensing, headed by Dr. hab. Bogdan Zagajewski, who held the position until 2021. In 2018, the unit was restructured into the Department of Geomatics and Information Systems, which included the Laboratory of Geoinformatics, Cartography and Remote Sensing (headed by Dr. Jolanta Korycka-Skorupa) and the Spatial Information Systems Laboratory. From 2021 to 2024, the Departm