Niels Nielsen · 1962
This review evaluates the fourth edition of the Atlas of Finland, published in 1960 by the Geographical Society of Finland. It situates the volume within the history of the world’s oldest national atlas series and compares it particularly with the 1925 edition. Drawing on extensive specialist contributions and new investigations, the atlas incorporates numerous maps addressing Finland’s profound structural changes after 1925 while maintaining continuity with earlier editions. Its 39 maps are praised for their scientific quality, technical execution, and original scholarship. The concise explanatory notes provide essential guidance, with further detail available in the Handbook of Finland’s Geography. The reviewer concludes that the atlas successfully continues Finland’s distinguished cartographic tradition and confirms the country’s leading position in national atlas production.
М. М. Вабар; Р. С. Нарских; Л. Р. Серебряный · 1962
M. M. Vabar, R. S. Narskikh and L. R. Serebryanny review the 1960 fourth edition of the Atlas of Finland, tracing its preparation from 1953 and examining its 415 maps on 89 sheets. They describe its coverage of physical geography, population, agriculture, forestry, industry, transport and public services, with particular attention to mapping techniques and changes over time. They praise the breadth of coverage, coordination between maps, layout and printing, and single out the population-and-arable-land dot map, bus-service maps and port maps as original contributions. They also note the increased use of synthetic maps, especially regionalizations. Their criticisms include excessive generalization of relief, missing overview maps of natural conditions and the economy, heavy reliance on choropleth mapping, inconsistencies between maps of crop limits, and unemployment maps that omit major cities. They acknowledge that agricultural data were dated because the 1960 census took place after compilation. Despite these reservations, their overall assessment is positive; they also note that preparation preceded the International Geographical Union’s recommendations for national atlases and report its favorable reception at the 1960 Stockholm cartographic exhibition.
Ena L. Yonge · 1962
The reviewer calls the 1960 edition of the Atlas of Finland aesthetically outstanding, praising the clarity and perfection of its printing, made possible by a new method, as well as its color choices and symbol design. The maps cover Finland's physical, political, and economic structure at scales from 1:1,000,000 to 1:10,000,000. This is the fourth edition, after those of 1899, 1910, and 1925; compilation began in 1953, and the reviewer regards the result as a remarkable achievement for seven years' work.
