Uganda乌干达

W. B. Banage

This review evaluates the Atlas of Uganda, published in 1962 by the Department of Lands and Surveys. It covers the atlas's contents, map design, and accompanying texts. The reviewer notes that although the atlas was compiled in only nine months for Uganda's independence, it successfully integrates contributions from government departments and Makerere University. Strengths include effective maps on climate and tribal composition, while criticisms point to inconsistent base maps, spelling errors, and differing criteria in population and agricultural density calculations. The omission of key zoogeographical fish divisions and fishery issues is also questioned. Overall, the atlas is deemed a valuable and comprehensive reference, despite minor flaws, and is especially useful for geography teachers and students lacking a Uganda textbook.

R. C. Bridges

This review assesses the Atlas of Uganda, produced by the Lands and Surveys Department for independence. It describes the atlas's 38 maps with notes and photographs, covering physical and human geography, population, agriculture, economy, health, and education. The reviewer commends the innovative cartographic techniques—such as divided circles for ethnic groups and isopleths for crop distributions—and the historical maps of archaeological sites and explorers' routes. He also notes an inconsistency: temperature maps use Centigrade while the text uses Fahrenheit. The review concludes that the atlas is the best national atlas among East African countries and, given its reasonable price, valuable to geographers and students of African development.

B. B. Whittaker

This paper, based on a presentation to the Conference of Commonwealth Survey Officers and subsequent discussions, describes the conception, planning, compilation, and production of The Atlas of Uganda. The author explains that in 1961 the Uganda Department of Lands and Surveys was overstretched by cadastral and land-administration duties, leaving little capacity for mapping. After Uganda's constitutional conference set independence for October 1962, the department decided to produce a national atlas in time for Independence Day. The atlas was intended to present in attractive cartographic form Uganda's physical geography, climate, flora and fauna, resources, peoples and development. About forty maps were initially listed; the design used right-hand maps with facing texts, statistics and photographs. Most maps were at 1:1,500,000 on a transverse Mercator projection, the bound volume measuring roughly 20.7 by 19.6 inches. The paper deals with choice of map subjects in consultation with Makerere University College's Geography Department, base-map styling (dark grey base, water tint, neutral grey surround), scribing and masking techniques, use of mechanical screens, and the bottleneck caused by hand-set letterpress. Production was tightly scheduled: data and texts were to be assembled by March, scribing and proofing by June, leaving three months for printing about one million impressions. Throughout, the author stresses the need to use familiar materials and proven techniques rather than experiment under deadline pressure. The discussion at the end compares the Uganda atlas with earlier Kenya and Tanganyika atlases, praises the speed of production and interdepartmental cooperation, and considers cartographic details such as route colours and town plans. A separate report summarizes an informal meeting of land surveyors at the RICS on 15 December 1966, at which Major A J Ayers and C C Brown described field tests of the Geodimeter Model 6 and Tellurometer 101: reduced weight and power consumption, greater range, simpler operation, accuracy comparisons on baselines and over 10–50 km distances, and practical advice on target marking, frequency control, and operating costs. Overall, the paper documents a remarkable national mapping achievement balancing technical cartography with administrative constraints, and offers useful lessons for other survey departments.

David N. Siriba; Daniel O. Nyangweso

National atlases synthesize a country's spatial knowledge through maps and textual descriptions. The three East African countries—Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania—gained independence around the same period and, with support from the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys, produced their first national atlases within a similar timeframe. However, these atlases have not been revised for decades. This paper reviews the historical development of national atlases in the three countries, examines the reasons for their stagnation, and discusses the implications of paradigm shifts including web mapping, Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). The analysis shows that delayed updates of topographic base maps, the ability of individual government departments to publish their own thematic atlases, and the growing availability of geospatial data through SDI and VGI have diminished the perceived relevance of official national atlases. Nevertheless, despite the still-low level of SDI development in East Africa, SDI and VGI offer a promising opportunity to revive the national atlas. The authors recommend that these countries move from printed products to online dynamic electronic atlases and conduct user-centered studies on interface and content design, thereby repositioning the national atlas within the modern geospatial ecosystem.