Usually, any course of study in college requires at least 4 years. The first two years you are getting the requirements out of the way – then the last two you are able to focus on your major and minor subjects. If you wish to obtain a PHD – you will need to get the MASTERS first. That usually takes about 18 months to 2 years – depending upon if after you graduate you plan to stay in school. You can also take courses on line with some schools and that might decrease the amount of time. After the Masters – you might have about 30 more hours to complete the Doctorate degree. If you are planning this in history, many of the students I went to school with took time off to visit other countries in order to establish what they wanted to write their final paper/project on. For example, my best friend studied Art History and took a leave (sort of) from school – though she was still studying and gathering information to travel to Europe and there she stayed one year to gather data and pictures and all the information she would need to complete her final Dissertation in Art History for her PHD. Good luck to you. I admire anyone who wants to be involved in education.

It depends on the country. It could be done in 6 years in Britain. It would take more like 9-10 years in the United States. Most other countries would be somewhere in the middle of that range.

Is that even an option? I’ve never even seen a course in geography at the college level, MUCH less a major or PhD program in it. You might want to look into that first.

Do they actually give Ph.Ds in geography? What would you do; memorize maps?