Ena L. Yonge · 1957
Yonge's survey of national atlases treats the Atlas de Belgique as a publication still in progress: 23 of a projected 52 plates had reached the American Geographical Society at the time of writing, grouped in eight divisions running from Belgium in Europe, cartography and geophysics through physical, biogeographic, human, economic and regional geography to administration. Sheets are large enough to carry general maps of Belgium at 1:500,000 and are folded and tipped for a binder. The plan was adopted in 1937, but the Comité National de Géographie could not begin execution until the country was free; a commission under A. de Ghellinck, and after his death P. Fourmarier, was responsible. Commentaries are planned for each sheet and would together form a geography of Belgium, and all map notes are bilingual in French and Flemish. Yonge calls the maps of sections 5 and 6 particularly noteworthy and describes them: Plate 21 gives population density per square kilometer by commune from the 1947 census in 11 shades, Plate 22 absolute population by circles, Plate 23 four maps of density for 1846, 1880, 1900 and 1930, and Plates 24–26 population movement, births, deaths and the absolute number of foreigners in 1910 and 1947; of the seven forest and agriculture plates three had arrived (29 forests, 30 cultivated area, 32 livestock), the livestock sheet's dot pattern being called unusual and pleasing.
Firmin Lentacker · 1964
This article reviews four newly published plates (Nos. 23, 25, 26, and 29; 1959-1962) of the National Atlas of Belgium, prepared and annotated by Professor Tulippe of the University of Liège. Plate 23 presents population density by municipality for 1846, 1880, 1900, and 1930 across four maps, revealing the evolution of Belgian population distribution since the 19th century—notably the concentration along the Haine-Sambre-Meuse industrial axis, the disintegration of the formerly compact high-density zone in interior Flanders, and the strengthening of densities in the Ghent-Antwerp-Brussels triangle, described as the "true demographic center of gravity of Belgium." Plates 25 and 26 map birth rates (1880, 1910, 1930, 1947), death rates (1880, 1947), and foreign population (1910, 1947) by municipality, with substantial commentary illuminating the complexity of Belgian demographic phenomena and nuancing the simplistic view of an expanding Flanders versus a declining Wallonia. Plate 29 depicts forest distribution in 1951 with an inset showing forest area at the end of the 18th century based on the Ferraris map, offering an excellent human and economic geography perspective on Belgian forests. The nearly complete National Atlas of Belgium deserves high praise and serves as a model achievement by Belgian geographers.
