Mongolia蒙古

Р. И. Злотин; С. В. Зонн; Д. А. Лилиенберг; Я. Г. Машбиц; А. И. Фадеев; В. П. Чичагов

This article summarizes the experience of cooperation between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam in creating national atlases of these countries. It analyzes the scientific concept of the atlases, the integrity and coverage of their subject matter, the combination of fundamental character and practical orientation, structural features, and integration potential. The article proposes a working definition of a national atlas: a fundamental comprehensive cartographic work reflecting a special object of mapping—the nation-state as an integral entity in the full systemic complexity of internal and external factors and historical preconditions of its existence and development. It elaborates principles for developing national atlases for countries with limited geographic and cartographic knowledge, including: broad thematic coverage oriented toward national economic and social planning practice; clear expression of resource-ecological, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural specificity; a flexible structure; and organization as a special target program coordinating interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, and often international efforts. The article examines the thematic structure of the national atlases of Cuba (1970), Mongolia (1989), and Vietnam, comprising introductory sections, general geographic maps, historical-revolutionary maps, nature and natural resources, population and settlement, economy, socio-economic development, and social infrastructure. It also discusses scale series, the role of general economic maps, legend capacity, and the integration potential of national atlases as embodiments of systemic mapping that realize direct and feedback links between geography and cartography. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of such atlases for poorly studied countries as effective tools for planning and scientific acceleration, and outlines prospects for further improvement of national atlases, maintaining the priority of Soviet geographic cartography, and international scientific-technical cooperation.

R. I. Zlotin; S. V. Zonn; D. A. Liliyenberg; Ya. G. Mashbits; A. I. Fadeyev; V. P. Chichagov

This article systematically summarizes the concepts, content, and development experience of national atlases, based on the long-term collaboration between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam. The authors first review nearly four decades of international cooperation: the first National Atlas of Cuba was produced in 1965–1970, receiving international acclaim and the USSR State Prize in 1973; work on the National Atlas of Mongolia began in 1976 jointly with Mongolian and Siberian scientists; and in the late 1980s new editions for Cuba and Vietnam were undertaken. The Soviet side contributed mainly to scientific concept design, coordination, methodological consulting, scientific editing, and specialist training. A working definition of the national atlas is proposed: it is a fundamental integrated cartographic work that treats the nation-state as a holistic entity, reflecting the complexity of its natural, historical, socioeconomic, and ethnocultural systems and the interaction of internal and external factors. For countries with limited geographic and cartographic study, several principles are suggested: the atlas should have broad thematic coverage oriented toward national economic and social planning; it should realistically portray the degree of integrated research on nature, resources, economy, population, and social factors; its structure should be flexible; and its creation should be organized as a special-purpose program uniting interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, and often international teams. The article further discusses the relationship between scale series and content, emphasizing that national atlases embody systems mapping and strengthen the integrating links among geography, cartography, and other sciences. Comparative analysis shows that the Mongolian and Vietnamese atlases have more modern structures, broader socioeconomic coverage, and a larger number of mapped subjects than the Cuban one, while their formats have become more compact. The authors conclude that national atlases can be created even under incomplete study of a territory and can serve as powerful stimuli for further research, the development of national scientific schools, and the formation of research teams. The inclusion of controversial or alternative maps is considered a viable option. Further improvement of national atlases is necessary to enhance their theoretical, practical, and ideological potential, as well as to promote international cooperation in geography and cartography.

Я. Г. Машбиц

This review discusses a monograph on the National Atlas of the Mongolian People's Republic, edited by V. V. Vorobyov and prepared by the Institute of Geography, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The atlas, involving over 300 Mongolian and Soviet specialists and completed in 1990, embodied long-term joint research. The book systematically covers theoretical and methodological issues of atlas mapping, with about half devoted to natural conditions and resources (geology, relief, climate, water, biology, landscapes) and the other half to population, economy, and social infrastructure. The reviewer highly appreciates its synthetic maps and regionalization approaches, regarding the volume as a significant contribution to thematic cartography and regional studies.

Ю. П. Михайлов

The National Atlas of Mongolia is a major comprehensive cartographic work produced by a joint collective of Mongolian and Russian scholars. Designed as a fundamental scientific reference, it provides a systematic source of information on Mongolia's natural conditions, resources, and socio-economic potential, thus forming a key component of the state information infrastructure. The atlas consists of two parts: the natural section with 148 maps covering geomorphology, history of the organic world, climate, surface waters, soils, vegetation, fauna, landscapes, and natural regionalization; and the socio-economic section with 128 maps on population, agriculture, industry and construction, transport, education, culture, trade, health, territorial systems, and international links. An original feature is the high proportion of evaluative maps. The reviewer highlights certain shortcomings, such as occasionally inappropriate cartographic representation, unused blank spaces on map sheets, and insufficiently explained legends in agricultural maps. Nevertheless, the atlas represents a significant contribution to geographical science and thematic cartography, and its concept largely anticipated the post-planned economic transition.

Ц. Наранцацрал; Б. Сайнбуян; М. Уртнасан; Р. Болдбаяр

On the 60th anniversary of the Department of Cartography at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, this article reviews the three editions of the Mongolian National Atlas. It compares the 1990, 2009, and 2022 editions in terms of size, number of maps, contributors, production time, data sources, cartographic methods, and map projections. The 1990 edition, produced by more than 300 Mongolian and Russian scholars over more than ten years, contains 276 maps and is strongly academic. The 2009 edition, completed in one year by about 150 experts from some 40 institutions using GIS, contains 256 maps. The 2022 edition updates statistics to 2020, is published bilingually in Mongolian and English, contains 246 maps, and uses the UTM projection. All editions employ such cartographic techniques as symbols, dot maps, cartograms, cartodiagrams, isolines, flow lines, and area methods, and cover physical geography, history, population, and economy. As comprehensive national cartographic products, the atlases reflect changing natural and socioeconomic conditions and remain important reference works for research and policy.