IGMI began its activity as the Topographic Office of the Italian Army General Staff after the Italian unification, in 1861. At the beginning, the Institute mainly supported the armed forces,  while nowadays it is the national mapping agency, thanks to the very high quality of its work. On 20^th January 1941, the Cabinet of the Ministry of War appointed the IGMI General Director as Chief of the Delegations of the Joint Commissions for the Maintenance of the State Borders. IGMI became the national cartographic authority with law no. 68/1960, and since then the cartography produced by the institute has been considered the official state cartography.