National Atlas of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Summary

This article reviews the National Atlas of Libya, compiled and printed in Sweden in 1978 for the Secretariat of Planning with the assistance of Libyan academics and local institutions, based on statistical and cartographic data from 1976-1977. The atlas comprises analytical maps at mostly small scales, covering orography, climatology, agricultural production, and industrial sites. The review highlights that the atlas reflects Libya's era of sudden oil wealth: certain hydrogeological, water-resource, and petroleum-concession maps are direct outcomes of hydrocarbon exploitation, while more original geological maps (e.g., the Pre-Cambrian and Paleozoic surfaces at the base of the Mesozoic) resulted from petroleum exploration. Notably, at the 1:2,000,000 scale, the map of the Sebha sector reveals that Libya's claimed borders at the southern frontiers (adjacent to Algeria, Niger, and Chad) do not coincide with generally recognized limits. The atlas also includes historical maps and some Gemini satellite images. Although large-scale maps are scarce, the atlas stands out as one of the finest of its kind in the region at the time.