Richard W. Stephenson · 1972
The survey describes the 1969 Atlas de Venezuela, produced by the Dirección de Cartografía Nacional to commemorate the Ninth General Assembly of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, as handsome and detailed. Its 216 pages are divided into basic and thematic cartography. The first part includes reproductions of five historical maps, maps of each state and the Federal District showing settlements, transport routes and administrative subdivisions, photomaps of state capitals, and landscape photographs. The second covers physical geography, population, the economy, transport, sociocultural topics and urban land use. The reviewer closes the survey by praising the quality of Venezuela’s national atlas.
Римма Сергеевна Нарских; Д. Б. Пришкольник · 1973
This article critically reviews the 1969 Atlas of Venezuela, placing it within the broader development of national comprehensive atlases in Latin America amid the region’s growing pursuit of autonomous economic development. Published by Venezuela’s Ministry of Public Works and Directorate of National Cartography with contributions from more than fifty institutions, the atlas comprises 216 pages, 126 maps, explanatory texts, photographs, diagrams, and tables. The review examines its organization, thematic coverage, cartographic methods, source data, informational value, and technical quality. Ten sections address historical and modern cartography, Caracas, administrative territories, physical geography, population, the economy, transport, culture and social conditions, and urbanization. Particular attention is given to maps of tectonics, climate, vegetation, settlement, migration, agriculture, industry, petroleum, mineral resources, trade, transport, education, health care, and tourism. The atlas successfully presents Venezuela’s regional diversity and emphasizes economically significant themes, especially petroleum production, mineral resources, infrastructure, water-resource development, and rapid urban growth. Its combination of thematic maps with statistical tables and graphic materials gives it substantial scientific, educational, and reference value. Several maps are judged innovative or especially informative, including those depicting tectonic structures, bioclimatic regions, thermal belts, oil exploitation, mineral deposits, housing shortages, and planned land use in major cities. Nevertheless, the review identifies important limitations. Much of the statistical foundation dates from 1961 or 1967, while some topographic samples lack quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The administrative maps are weakened by the absence of a geographical-name index. Certain physical-geographical units and zoogeographical criteria are insufficiently explained; runoff data needed to assess water resources are missing; and soil information excludes much of southern Venezuela. Socioeconomic coverage is also uneven: unemployment, land-tenure systems, land-use structure, agricultural specialization, and the full sectoral composition of the economically active population receive inadequate cartographic treatment. Urban population trends do not fully exploit available census data, and several industrial maps omit quantitative indicators. Despite these shortcomings, the reviewer concludes that Venezuela’s first comprehensive national atlas is broadly successful, aided by earlier specialized atlases of roads, climate, agriculture, and forests. Its wide thematic scope, abundant reference material, strong printing, and accomplished visual design offer a detailed portrayal of the country’s natural environment, economy, population, and culture. The atlas therefore represents both a significant achievement in Venezuelan thematic cartography and a valuable source for international readers seeking to understand the country and the distinctive development of Latin American national atlas-making.
細井将右 · 1982
Within his survey of Venezuelan cartography, Shosuke Hosoi compares the national mapping agency’s Atlas de Venezuela (1969, reprinted in 1971) with Atlas de Venezuela 1979. Both measure 45 × 32 cm; the first edition has 210 pages and the second 331. The first contains 45 basic map sheets and approximately 90 thematic maps, including small maps. Its basic section covers historical maps, contemporary mapping, Caracas and federal entities; its thematic section covers physical geography, population, economy, transport, society and culture, urban growth and regional development. Hosoi notes that photographs and short explanations help readers understand the mapped subjects. The 1979 edition retains this structure but expands to approximately 80 basic map sheets and more than 180 thematic maps. It adds historical maps of Caracas, state information tables, and maps and descriptions of the nine development regions established in 1975. Maps replace the state-capital photographic mosaics, and ground-level landscape photographs are reduced by half. Hosoi characterizes the first edition’s federal-entity section as a visual regional geography and considers the added tables and prose to strengthen that character in the second. Physical-geography maps change relatively little, while newly added statistical maps account for much of the thematic expansion.
