This bibliographic index, compiled by A. G. Kozubenko at the Cartographic Scientific Information Laboratory of the Production Cartographic Association “Kartografiya” and published in Moscow in 1990, surveys national atlases of foreign countries issued after 1950, with coverage current to December 1989. Drawing on the collections and union catalogue of the V. I. Lenin State Library of the USSR, other Soviet libraries and institutions, the holdings of “Kartografiya,” and Soviet and international publications, it records more than 130 comprehensive scientific-reference atlases. Where no formal national atlas existed, representative reference or popular-reference atlases produced within the country were included; major comprehensive works were also listed when a national atlas was still being prepared or published. Entries are arranged alphabetically by country within five continental divisions—Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia and Oceania—and chronologically when several atlases are available for one country. Following Soviet standards for the bibliographic description of cartographic works, each record provides the original title and a Russian translation, responsible institutions, edition information, principal scales, publication details, physical characteristics, supplementary texts and graphics, format, notes, ISBN where available, thematic contents, and holding institution, shelf mark, or documentary source. Institutional names are reproduced in full, and map subjects are classified according to a cartographic information-retrieval system intended to support standardized and automated documentation. The index demonstrates substantial international growth in national atlas production. European countries completed numerous long-term projects during the 1970s and continued revised or serial editions in the 1980s. Asian production included repeated editions and new projects, while African atlases reflected growing needs for information on natural and labor resources, although their scholarly and practical quality varied considerably. Most countries in the Americas possessed comprehensive atlases, with several issuing supplements, revised editions, or individual updating sheets. Australia and Oceania were represented by resource and national-reference atlases of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea. Across regions, the works commonly address physical geography, geology, climate, soils, vegetation, population, history, administration, agriculture, industry, resources, transport, communications, trade, culture, education, health, tourism, and regional geography. The survey concludes that national atlases were becoming more numerous, more frequently revised, and broader in application. Newer atlases increasingly incorporated synthetic, evaluative, and predictive maps designed to support economic planning, territorial development, and rational resource use. The index therefore serves cartographic agencies, planning and survey organizations, research and educational institutions, libraries, and specialists studying foreign territories, while also documenting disparities in national cartographic capacity, geographic knowledge, and socioeconomic development.
This bibliographic survey documents the development, scope, and worldwide distribution of national and regional atlases published up to and including 1978, with a supplementary inventory of Indian atlases extending to 1980. Originating in the work of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National and Regional Atlases and subsequently prepared for publication by the International Cartographic Association, the volume represents an extensive international documentation project led by W. Stams with the assistance of Marianne Stams, E. Lehmann, and specialists from numerous countries. Its principal objective is to establish a systematic and critically evaluated record of atlases that portray entire states, subdivisions of states, groups of neighbouring countries, and other territorially defined regions through multiple thematic perspectives. The introductory study traces the historical development of terrestrial mapping and geographical atlases, reviews earlier methods of atlas bibliography, and proposes more consistent procedures for cartographic documentation. It identifies the bibliographic and cartographic sources consulted, specifies the descriptive data required for individual entries, and discusses the limitations of existing bibliographies. To organize a highly heterogeneous body of material, the survey classifies atlases primarily by territorial extent and thematic content. It distinguishes national atlases from other regional and multiregional works while emphasizing that every national atlas is regional in character, although not every regional atlas qualifies as national. Particular attention is given to comprehensive representations of natural conditions, population, economy, society, and culture, as well as to the role of atlases in reflecting the development of thematic cartography. The study also evaluates chronological trends, the distribution of atlas types, geographical patterns, and publication status. The main bibliography is arranged geographically and supported by codes, abbreviations, supplements, literature lists, and an alphabetical index. Its coverage extends across Europe, the Soviet Union and its constituent regions, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Africa, North and Latin America, polar territories, oceans, and broader transnational regions, including detailed listings for subnational units such as German Länder, United States states, Canadian provinces, and Australian states. Data were checked and expanded through consultation with approximately eighty experts and institutions in sixty countries, demonstrating the value of international scholarly cooperation. Nevertheless, uneven responses, inaccessible publications, divergent national practices, transliteration problems, and gaps in library holdings prevent complete global coverage. The work therefore presents itself not as a definitive catalogue but as a foundational reference requiring continuing correction and supplementation. Overall, it offers both a practical research tool and a comparative framework for studying atlas production, thematic-cartographic maturity, regional knowledge, and the historical evolution of national and regional representation.
This document is a bibliography of national and regional atlases published between 1971 and 1975, compiled by the Polish Academy of Sciences for the International Geographical Congress in 1976. It systematically lists atlases from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, organized by continent and country. Each entry provides publication details, editorial bodies, dimensions, map counts, and review sources, covering representative works from countries such as Albania, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, and the Soviet Union. The bibliography offers a comprehensive overview of global atlas production in the early 1970s and serves as a valuable reference for research in geography and cartographic history.
This bibliographical volume, prepared by the Institute of Geography of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the Twenty-Second International Geographical Congress in Warsaw in 1972, documents national and regional atlases published during 1968–1971 and related cartographic scholarship. It continues a systematic programme initiated after the 1958 meeting of the International Geographical Union’s Committee of National Atlases. An initial bibliography, issued for the 1960 Stockholm Congress, recorded 130 atlases from 1900–1959, although only about thirty percent fully satisfied the criteria proposed for national atlases. A substantially expanded edition prepared for the 1964 London Congress covered 361 national, regional, and transnational atlases published through 1962, while a later supplement listed 191 works issued between 1963 and 1967. The present publication extends this cumulative record by identifying 205 items, including new atlases, continuations, revised editions, and successive instalments of earlier projects. Its evidence derives principally from the cartographic collections of the Institute of Geography and from international geographical, cartographical, bibliographical, and reviewing periodicals. Specialists, including K. A. Salischev and A. V. Vostokova for Soviet materials and A. Gerlach for the United States, assisted in checking and correcting selected national entries. The volume is divided into three complementary sections: a register of sources; a bibliography of atlases accompanied, where available, by reviews; and a bibliography of scholarly articles concerning atlas conception, compilation, design, and use. Atlas entries are organized geographically by continent and country, arranged alphabetically within national sections, with national atlases preceding regional or specialized works. Coverage extends across Europe, Africa, North, Central, and South America, Asia, Australia and Oceania, the Pacific islands, and Antarctica, together with works addressing larger continental areas. The articles reveal major concerns in contemporary thematic and complex atlas cartography: the definition and structure of national atlases; coordination of map series; graphic design and layout; explanatory texts; and the representation of geomorphology, vegetation, hydrology, permafrost, population, settlement, agriculture, mineral and energy resources, industry, construction, and environmental conditions. Particular attention is given to Soviet and Eastern European experience in comprehensive scientific-reference atlases and evaluative small-scale mapping for regional planning and resource management. Overall, the publication functions both as an international reference tool and as a record of the rapid geographical expansion, thematic diversification, and methodological development of national and regional atlas production at the turn of the 1970s.
This bibliographical supplement, prepared by Halina Tuszyńska-Rękawek and Jolanta Drecka under the direction of Stanisław Leszczycki at the Institute of Geography of the Polish Academy of Sciences, was issued in 1968 for the Twenty-First International Geographical Congress. It continues an international documentation project initiated after the 1958 Moscow meeting of the International Geographical Union’s Committee of National Atlases. The first bibliography, published for the 1960 Stockholm Congress, recorded 130 atlases issued between 1900 and 1959, although only about thirty percent fully met the criteria established for national atlases. A substantially expanded 1964 edition covered 361 national and regional atlases published through 1962 and broadened the field to include comprehensive regional works, atlases spanning groups of countries, and relevant scholarly literature. The present supplement updates that record for 1963–1967. It identifies 191 atlases, approximately forty of which are continuations or revised editions of earlier publications. Entries were compiled from holdings of the Institute of Geography and from an extensive range of international bibliographical, geographical, cartographical, and reviewing journals. Information concerning the Soviet Union was critically revised by the cartographer K. A. Salischev. The volume is organized into three principal sections: a list of documentary sources; a bibliography of national and regional atlases, including associated reviews; and a bibliography of articles addressing atlas design, production, classification, and use. Atlas entries are arranged geographically by continent and country, with national atlases generally preceding regional or specialized works and individual titles ordered alphabetically. Coverage encompasses Europe, Africa, North, Central, and South America, Asia, Australia and Oceania, and Antarctica. The records provide publication data and, where available, editors, institutional sponsors, cartographers, physical dimensions, map scales, numbers of sheets or pages, edition histories, references to earlier listings, and citations of critical reviews. The geographical index demonstrates the breadth of coverage, extending from entire continents and states to provinces, republics, administrative districts, metropolitan regions, river valleys, islands, and polar territories. Separate indexes of personal and geographical names facilitate access and connect atlases with their editors, authors, reviewers, and cartographers. Rather than offering an interpretive history of cartography, the publication functions as a systematically organized reference instrument. It documents the rapid international growth of national and regional atlas production during the mid-1960s, supports comparative research on atlas programmes and mapping practices, and reflects sustained cooperation among the Polish Academy of Sciences, the IGU committee, national specialists, libraries, and scholarly periodicals.
This bibliographical reference work, prepared by Jolanta Drecka and Halina Tuszyńska-Rękawek under the direction of Stanisław Leszczycki and published by the Institute of Geography of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1964, systematically documents national and regional atlases and the scholarly literature associated with them. Produced in connection with the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union, it draws upon an extensive international network of geographers, cartographers, librarians, map curators, scientific institutions, and corresponding members. The listed collaborators represent countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Oceania, illustrating both the global scope of the undertaking and the cooperative process through which bibliographical information was assembled and verified. The main bibliography is geographically organized. European materials receive the most extensive treatment, including separate sections for individual states, the USSR and its constituent regions, and Europe as a whole. Further sections cover African territories and countries; North, Central, and South America; Asian states and regions; Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Entries encompass national atlases, regional and administrative atlases, thematic cartographic works, and publications concerning atlas conception, preparation, content, design, and use. The volume also includes articles discussing modern atlas cartography. Multilingual titles, historical and contemporary place names, and materials issued under differing political and administrative systems are brought together within one reference framework. Detailed indexes of personal and geographical names provide access by author, editor, cartographer, country, province, city, and larger world region. Cross-references connect alternative names and changing territorial designations, while entry numbers allow users to trace indexed subjects back to the relevant bibliographical records. Overall, the publication functions as an international research instrument for geographers, cartographers, librarians, and historians of mapping. It records the worldwide development of national and regional atlas production up to the early 1960s, reveals major geographical concentrations and gaps in the available literature, and supplies a structured foundation for comparative research, library collection building, bibliographical control, and future atlas-planning activities.
This bibliographic compilation aims to systematically organize national atlases and related research literature, serving as a foundational reference for geographic and cartographic studies. Based on the collections and periodicals of the Library of the Institute of Geography in Warsaw, the authors assembled literature on national atlas issues from 1900 to 1959, appending critical reviews as footnotes under corresponding atlas titles. During the compilation process, multiple challenges arose concerning type classification, content selection, and value assessment. First, following criteria proposed by scholars such as S. Leszczycki, K. A. Saliszczew, and O. Tulippe, the authors strictly distinguished pure national atlases from related types: of the 130 atlases covered, only 40 corresponded to the criteria for national atlases, while the rest, sharing certain features with national atlases, could in a way serve as substitutes; these were also included to enhance the bibliography’s practicality. Second, regarding scope, atlases covering continents, parts of continents, or multiple countries, as well as regional atlases of parts of a given country, were excluded; however, atlases of small territories with political independence (e.g., Gdańsk) were retained. For large federal states such as the USSR, USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil, India, and China, atlases of first-rank administrative-political units were qualified as national atlases and included; for smaller federal states like Switzerland and Austria, regional atlases were excluded due to limited area. Third, concerning content, a "national" atlas had to include at least three different maps presenting geographical environment, population, and economy; consequently, all special atlases (e.g., physiographic, population, economic) and political-administrative atlases lacking special problem maps were excluded, as were older atlases published before 1900. Fourth, scientific value and purpose served as additional criteria: atlases published solely for propaganda or with low cartographic standards, created for special occasions like exhibitions or political events, were eliminated. Among school atlases, only those specifically prepared for higher secondary school classes in a given country were included, excluding general atlases even with special inserts. Despite the authors' efforts to apply these criteria objectively, the short preparation time and reliance solely on Polish sources may have introduced unintentional errors or gaps, causing disproportions in the number of "pseudonational" atlases across countries. The compilation concludes with an extensive reference list covering papers and reports on atlases from various countries, providing a valuable index for future research.
Looking for studies on a specific country? Country-specific literature is listed on each national atlas page.
