地理信息系统（GIS）在我国国家信息化、国家安全、经济建设、科学研究等方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。在推导我国GIS基础和应用基础研究方面，国家自然科学基金（NSFC）发挥了重要作用。对NSFC地球科学部地理学科资助的GIS类项目为例，从获资助项目数量、学术论文发表和人才培养3个方面，对1991-2001年NSFC资助的GIS类项目进行了初步分析，并与同期美国自然科学基金资助GIS类项目情况进行了初步对比分析。为了加强我国GIS基础和应用基础研究，提出逐步增大对GIS的资助项数，支持跨单位、跨学科的优秀研究群体，在NSFC项目指南中增加GIS专门条款等建议。

Geographic Information System(GIS) is more and more important in the development of information, security, economy, and research of China. The National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC) has pushed ahead basic and applied basic research of GIS. In this paper, the analysis is given about the GIS projects supported by NSFC from 1991 to 2001 according to the three aspects of award program quantities, articles in core refereed journals, and the fosters of scientific talents, with the example of the programs supported by the Geography discipline of the departments of Earth Sciences. A comparison was made between the projects supported by NSFC and NSF of U. S during 1991～2001. In order to quicken the basic and applied basic research of GIS, we advice NSFC to increase the award GIS programs quantities step by step, support excellent multi-corporation and multi- disciplines' GIS research communities, and add GIS items in the Guide to Programs of NSFC.