Fragen der komplexen geographischen Karten und deren Entwicklung in der UdSSR

Summary

This article examines the functions, forms, historical development, and future prospects of complex geographical mapping, with particular emphasis on Soviet experience. Maps are presented not merely as instruments for locating natural and socioeconomic phenomena or illustrating existing knowledge, but as essential tools for comparison, scientific generalization, discovery, and prediction. Their importance increases when geographical research is directed toward practical objectives such as economic planning, resource assessment, and regional development. The author distinguishes three principal approaches: individual complex maps combining selected interrelated phenomena; complex geographical atlases composed of complementary thematic maps; and coordinated series of standardized special-purpose maps intended for comparative and joint use. Individual complex maps—including topographic, economic, and large-scale natural-condition maps—can serve specific practical purposes effectively. However, attempts to portray too many physical and economic elements simultaneously often produce overloaded and poorly legible results because map area, scale, graphic techniques, and necessary generalization impose inherent limits. Complex atlases therefore offer broader possibilities for representing territories comprehensively. The article traces their evolution from early general and navigational collections to nineteenth-century physical, climatic, agricultural, industrial, statistical, and national atlases. It highlights Russian and Soviet contributions, including early industrial and economic-statistical maps, the Atlas of Asiatic Russia, regional atlases, the Atlas of Industry of the USSR, the Great Soviet World Atlas, the Marine Atlas, and the World Atlas. The discussion stresses that scientifically valuable atlases require reliable data, coherent territorial coverage, unified projections and base maps, comparable legends, coordinated scales, and methods that reveal relationships among natural conditions, population, productive forces, and economic activity. Soviet cartography is interpreted as closely connected with socialist construction and the planned study and development of national territory. A major direction of progress lies in coordinated basic map series, especially USSR maps at 1:1,000,000, which can support both specialized research and integrated physical-geographical interpretation. Such series avoid the visual congestion of a single complex map while preserving comparability among subjects such as relief, climate, soils, vegetation, and other components of nature. The author concludes by extending this principle to international cooperation. Recalling the 1891 decision to create the International Map of the World at 1:1,000,000, he argues that geography should now pursue a coordinated global series incorporating general, soil, geobotanical, and related maps. Because of the project’s methodological and organizational difficulty, common programs and legends should first be tested at scales of 1:5,000,000 or smaller and refined through national maps and atlases. Soviet achievements are thus offered both as a contribution to geographical science and as a foundation for a future integrated cartographic representation of the Earth.