Atlas of Belgium
FRAtlas de Belgique
NLAtlas van België
Belgium · Comité National de Géographie · 1972
Related Reviews & Articles
National atlases: a summary
Ena L. Yonge · 1957
This article provides a comprehensive review of national atlases published worldwide up to the time of writing. It notes that since the Geographical Review first coined the term 'Age of National Atlases' in 1940, the surge of nationalism after World War II has greatly accelerated the production and scope of such atlases. The author surveys 26 published national atlases and 3 in preparation. The article first emphasizes that a national atlas aims to portray all aspects of a country—physical, economic, and social—and highlights a welcome trend: the inclusion of map titles, legends, and text summaries in English or French for atlases published in less familiar languages. The review is then organized by region. For Europe, it details atlases from Austria (Atlas von Niederösterreich), Belgium (Atlas de Belgique), France (revised Atlas de France), and Germany (Deutscher Planungsatlas, specifically Atlas von Berlin), among others, discussing their institutional backing, content structure, scales, cartographic techniques, and unique features, such as Berlin's depiction of wartime damage and postwar development, and Belgium's detailed demographic and agricultural maps. Atlases from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Norway are also mentioned. For Africa, the planned Atlas du Maroc is described. For Oceania, the Atlas of Australian Resources is reviewed, highlighting its origin in post-war resource assessment, its effective use of a large scale, and its focus on water resources and population distribution. For North America, the article reports on the progress of a Canadian national atlas and the initiation of the National Atlas of the United States, a collaborative federal effort to compile standardized thematic maps from various government agencies. The article concludes that these national atlases represent significant achievements in geographic and cartographic scholarship, serving as invaluable resources for students, planners, and businesses.
Regional atlases: a summary survey
Ena L. Yonge · 1962
This article provides a systematic summary review of approximately one hundred regional atlases from around the world, organized primarily by continent (or other large region) and then alphabetically by country within each group. The author begins by noting that the ever-increasing flood of atlases—national, regional, topical, and special—makes individual reviews impossible, thus necessitating summary evaluations to acknowledge important publications while respecting space constraints. The review covers representative works from Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America, and South America, encompassing road atlases, historical-geographical atlases, national atlases, climatic atlases, economic atlases, and school atlases. Each atlas is assessed in terms of its compiling institution, editors, scales, number of plates, content structure, cartographic techniques, printing quality, and scholarly value, with notable features and shortcomings highlighted. For instance, the European section evaluates works such as the Euroatlas, Atlas östliches Mitteleuropa, Atlas von Niederösterreich, Atlas de Belgique, Climatic Atlas of Czechoslovakia, Atlas of Denmark, and Atlas of Finland, while the American section covers state atlases from Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, as well as national atlases from Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. The article emphasizes that these atlases not only reflect the research standards of geography and cartography in their respective countries but also serve as vital references for regional planning, economic development, historical research, and education. The author concludes by acknowledging that no single individual can possess sufficient expertise across all aspects of geography, cartography, and linguistics to render definitive critical judgments, yet such summaries offer valuable guidance to scholars, with a forthcoming review of world atlases and special atlases announced.
La géographie appliquée
Omer Tulippe · 1956
This article aims to define the concept and role of the emerging discipline of "applied geography." The author first points out that although the term is recent, the practice of applied geography has a venerable history, dating back to Marshal Vauban's "La Dîme royale." By comparing the developmental paths of France and Great Britain, the article reveals different ways in which geography transitioned from pure science to application: while French academic geography theoretically recognized regional geography as the basis for application, its practical implementation was slow, accompanied by concerns among leading scholars about disciplinary fragmentation; in contrast, British geographers directly engaged in national and regional planning surveys, allowing applied geography to flourish. The author emphasizes that regional geography, due to its holistic understanding of the environment, serves as the primary entry point for geography to serve society, but its application requires multidisciplinary teamwork. Subsequently, the article details the Belgian situation, citing how studies of regions like Tournaisis, Borinage, and Belgian Lorraine led the government to enlist geographers for regional planning, and outlines the contributions of Belgian university geography institutes (e.g., University of Liège) in teaching and practicing applied geography. Furthermore, the article reviews progress in other French universities (Strasbourg, Rennes, Bordeaux), including research training internships, the creation of a chair in applied geography, and the establishment of an applied humanities institute. Finally, the author calls for the systematic organization of applied geography teaching, noting that this discipline, as a logical extension of pure geography, is gaining increasing recognition among geographers.
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