Atlasi i Shqipërisë: Atlasi Gjeografik i Popullsisë së Shqipërisë

Albania's Atlas: The Geographic Atlas of Albania's Population

Albania · Shtëpia Botuese · 2003

Editors’ Accounts

Demographic Atlas of Albania: Pilot project for a National Atlas Information System in a South East European transformation country. Mapping approaches into a changing world

Hartmut Asche; Arqile Bërxholi; Julia Siemer; Dhimitër Doka · 2005

The authors describe the conception, compilation and production of the Demographic Atlas of Albania (Atlasi Gjeografik PopullsisÎ ShqipÎrisÎ, AGPS), the linked population atlas, as a prototype for a cumulative national atlas and a future national atlas information system (NAIS). Earlier national-atlas plans lacked funding; the pilot, supported through DAAD’s academic reconstruction programme, tested successive thematic volumes sharing a common cartographic structure. Intended for broad national and international audiences, AGPS uses Albanian, English and German text and prioritises a printed volume. Its 65 thematic maps cover population structure, distribution, change, migration, ethnicity, religion, education and medical care, supplemented by nine geographical reference maps. Compilation combined the 2001 and 1989 censuses, archival records and selected field surveys. Historical statistics were harmonised to current administrative divisions, with some series extending to the 1920s. A digital topographic base was assembled from existing maps, satellite imagery and military-origin databases. The workflow linked ArcView data management to Freehand map construction through Mapublisher, using choropleths, diagrams and dot maps; an administrative transparency supports locational reference. Mixed Albanian-German teams divided data acquisition, GIS processing, visualisation and printing, with printing and binding undertaken in Albania under technical supervision and staff training. The authors judge the printed atlas a successful proof of concept, while calling for stronger printing and binding quality control. They report favourable audience responses and continued multinational cooperation, outline a proposed economic atlas, and distinguish these plans from work on an electronic AGPS prototype intended for internet release in 2005.

Reviews & Responses

Controversies surrounding the new atlases of Albania

Régis Darques · 2004

Régis Darques reviews the 2003 geographical atlas of Albania’s population alongside INSTAT’s census atlas. Produced by the Academy of Sciences with the University of Tirana, the 2003 volume uses Albanian, English and German and contains about sixty colour map plates with substantial commentary. Its historical analysis spans the century and covers seven themes, including population distribution, migration, urban–rural dynamics, education and health. Darques criticizes its colour choices, cartographic symbolization and occasionally unclear sources, finding its maps less rigorous than INSTAT’s. He also examines the controversy over its treatment of ethnic minorities, noting that press commentators concentrated on one of its 115 pages and that the atlas groups ethnic minorities together without distinguishing individual groups. He argues that these debates need to account for severe population losses in some affected localities, including losses of 80% over the preceding decade, and welcomes the effort to document Albania’s demographic and territorial conditions after decades of censorship.

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