Book Reviews: Nuevo Atlas Nacional de México

Summary

This review assesses the Nuevo Atlas Nacional de México, published in 2007 by the Instituto de Geografía at UNAM. Edited by Atlántida Coll-Hurtado with over 150 contributors, the atlas comprises 726 maps and 353 tables, offering a creatively detailed portrait of early 21st-century Mexico across physical, historical, social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The review highlights the economy section as the centerpiece, which transparently demonstrates the impacts of neoliberal policies and NAFTA on agriculture, manufacturing, and services, alongside persistent social inequalities, massive migration flows, and severe environmental degradation. While noting the absence of topics like narcotics trafficking and voting patterns, and an underplayed human-environment nexus, the reviewer praises the atlas as an incredibly useful, well-organized tool for researchers across disciplines beyond geography, predicting it will become a standard reference for Mexican geography.