Cartographic exhibitions at the XIX International Geographical Congress

Summary

This report reviews the exhibitions of national atlases, thematic maps, and contemporary Swedish maps at the Nineteenth International Geographical Congress. The national atlas exhibition brought together 26 countries and presented atlases completed or revised since the preceding congress, alongside works still in preparation. K. A. Salishchev assesses their thematic coverage, data gaps, scales, and cartographic presentation. He commends the systematic updating of the Finnish atlas while noting excessive generalization or overcrowding on some maps following scale reductions. The Canadian provincial atlases, he observes, do not constitute a unified series. The thematic map exhibition comprised more than 400 exhibits from 22 countries. The review identifies improvements in topographic mapping associated with aerial photogrammetry and publishing techniques; different approaches to relief representation through hypsometric colouring, shaded relief, and relief models; and increasing convergence among legends for soil, geomorphological, and land-use maps, supporting discussion of international standardization. Complementary thematic map series demonstrate the growing use of comprehensive mapping. The Swedish exhibition includes aerial imagery, topographic and geological maps, economic maps, and tourist and educational maps. Its exhibits illustrate differences between older and newer surveys and the production of large-scale maps combining photographic imagery, land-use information, and topographic detail.