On the basis of interpreting the conceptual connotation of area studies and the evolutionary process of geographical participation in this field, this paper takes 377 area studies articles published in World Regional Studies from 1992 to 2025 as research samples, and systematically sorts out the current research status via bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review. The findings are as follows: ①Geography has long served as a key participant in China's area studies, evolving through four stages: knowledge translation and preliminary description, establishment of the comprehensive regional analysis paradigm, marginalization amid the quantitative revolution, and disciplinary revival and self-awareness. ②The annual publication volume has undergone a three-phase evolution of "low-level fluctuation – steady growth – explosive surge". Research objects have expanded from China's neighboring regions and major countries including the United States, Russia and Japan to peripheral regions. Qualitative methods dominate existing research with quantitative methods as a supplement. Publishing institutions are predominantly normal universities, forming a spatial pattern of "three-pole agglomeration with multi-point support", and research purposes are increasingly academic-oriented. ③The research topics cover eight major fields: geopolitics and conflict evolution, resources, energy and geo-economics, population migration and aging, urbanization and spatial expansion, land use and sustainable development, tourism industry and tourist source markets, industrial trade and foreign investment, as well as transportation infrastructure and spatial planning. ④There are prominent disparities in regional research focuses: studies on the Global South concentrate on existential issues such as conflicts, resources and population migration, while research on the Global North (Europe, America and Japan) focuses on regulative issues including institutional innovation, governance transformation and climate resilience. Finally, this paper presents discussions and prospects from the following aspects: expanding research methodologies and approaches, advancing studies on the Global South, the geographical restructuring of "efficiency-security", and the identity tension between interdisciplinarity and disciplinary autonomy.
