The rapid development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle （UAV） technology provides new methods for geographical research and promotes geographical research into a new stage of development. To understand the application trend of drones in geographical research， 3 911 papers from 2002~2021 were analyzed by bibliometric methods using the relevant literature on the application of drones in geography in the Web of Science core collection as the data source. The results show that the literature on UAV applications in geography has shown a rapid growth trend since 2012， with an annual average growth rate of 54.7%. China and USA dominate the applications of UAV in geographical research. The keyword clustering results reflect the research systems of surveying and cartography， geomorphology， GIS， ecogeography and natural disaster science. Surveying and cartography is currently the most used field for UAV， while GIS and ecogeography have the fastest growth rate. The number of articles issued in the fields of geographic information system and ecological geography has the fastest growth rate， with 73% and 69% growth rate respectively. At present， "UAV+Deep learning" is becoming a major trend in the combination of UAV and geographical research. As scholars strengthen cooperation and communication， more technical and theoretical innovations will emerge from UAV remote sensing to further promote its application in the field of geography.