This article assesses recent developments in object based image analysis or OBIA–the acronyms OBIA and GEOBIA, which stands for geospatial object based image analysis, are both herein used interchangeably–based on a thorough analysis of over 820 articles dealing with the concept of OBIA. It reflects only very briefly on the tradition of image segmentation, which is much older than the advent of popularised commercial software. The concatenation of two trends has made this new area of research possible: the advent of high resolution imagery, and the availability of powerful, off-the-shelf software that bridges image processing and GIS functionalities in an object based environment