В. В. Барыкина; В. В. Бердников; Л. В. Логинова; А. А. Лютый; Р. С. Царских; Е. А. Финько · 1989
The article reviews the New National Atlas of Cuba, published in 1989, and presents it as a major achievement of Cuban geography and cartography marking the thirtieth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Prepared under the leadership of the Institute of Geography of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the Cuban Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, the atlas drew on the participation of more than one hundred Cuban institutions and specialists from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, and Mexico. It also built upon the experience of Cuba’s first national atlas, issued in 1970, and upon the professional training of Cuban researchers abroad. Comprising twenty-four thematic sections, 627 maps, 665 diagrams, profiles, and other graphics, sixty-one color photographs, and extensive reference texts, the volume functions as a comprehensive geographical encyclopedia of the country. It systematically documents Cuba’s natural environment, resources, population, settlement, economy, society, culture, history, and revolutionary development. The review highlights the atlas’s treatment of geophysics, tectonics, seismicity, geology, landforms, climate, water resources, surrounding seas, land use, urban systems, industrial organization, trade, and internal and interregional economic relations. Many maps combine scientific synthesis with practical applications, including hazard assessment, agricultural evaluation, resource management, infrastructure planning, and long-term socioeconomic policy. Particularly innovative is the environmental section, which classifies geosystems at several taxonomic levels, distinguishes anthropogenic, agricultural, forest, and relatively natural landscapes, and maps pollution sources, vulnerable environmental components, ecological stability, self-restoration capacity, and conservation measures. Its maps of protected areas and natural and cultural monuments further connect environmental management with heritage preservation. The final section, devoted to history and revolution, uses maps, diagrams, illustrations, and documentary chronologies to reconstruct Indigenous settlement and migration, colonization, slavery and piracy, struggles for independence, the revolutionary movement, nationalization, agrarian reform, literacy campaigns, political organization, resistance to foreign aggression, and Cuba’s international relations. According to the author, the atlas demonstrates both the maturity of Cuban geographical science and the rapid development of its observational networks, statistical resources, technical infrastructure, and professional personnel. Methodologically, it advances typological and synthetic mapping, matrix legends, multiscale representation, and nationally distinctive visual design. The atlas can therefore serve as an analytical and reference foundation for scientific research, regional economics, national planning, education, and the preparation of smaller-scale maps and atlases. Beyond these technical functions, it acts as a cultural ambassador that communicates Cuba’s achievements and identity abroad, supports international cooperation, and strengthens the country’s standing. The article concludes that the work ranks among the exemplary national atlases of its era and constitutes a significant contribution to world culture.
Etienne Dalmasso · 1991
Étienne Dalmasso reviews the Nuevo atlas nacional de Cuba, published in 1989 by the Institute of Geography and the Cuban Institute of Geodesy and Cartography of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, following the first edition of 1970. Directed by Gladstone Oliva Gutiérrez, it involved dozens of authors and scientific advisers, with material support from numerous scientific and administrative institutions. Its more than 200 pages, measuring 54 × 64 cm, contain 627 maps of Cuba, the Caribbean and the world, supplemented by 61 colour photographs and over 700 diagrams, profiles, sections, graphs and other supplementary materials. The 24 sections cover reference mapping, natural conditions, population, economic activities, infrastructure and the environment, concluding with “History and Revolution” on Cuban history and international action. Dalmasso particularly praises the visual quality of certain plates, noting considerable improvement over the first edition, and recommends the atlas as an essential cartographic and scientific reference on Cuba.
Robert B. Kent · 1995
The review treats the 1989 Nuevo atlas nacional de Cuba as a single-volume national atlas that builds on Cuba's earlier national, general and demographic atlases. It was produced by the Instituto de Geografía de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, the Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartografía and Spain's Instituto Geográfico Nacional, with 1,500 people from more than 150 Cuban institutions assisting. The reviewer describes 220 full-color map pages: nearly half on the physical environment across eleven chapters, the remaining twelve on human geography, with detailed treatment of history and revolution, population and settlements, social infrastructure and the agricultural economy, and briefer coverage of industry, transport and commerce, human-environment interaction, landscapes, sugar, construction, regional economies and international trade. He calls it a cartographer's dream—short on text and strong on clear, attractive maps with attributed authorship—but notes that map sources are not printed and the bibliography is under a page.
