General Studies on National Atlases (123)

Post-colonial national atlases – celebrating independence or sustaining colonial structures?

The collapse of colonial empires after WWII led to the independence of 50 colonies by 1970, yet newly formed states often inherited former colonial administrative or demarcation boundaries, complicating nation-building and triggering numerous post-colonial civil wars. This paper employs a systematic multilevel analysis to compare the visualization modes, map language elements, narrative structures, and production processes of initial post-colonial national atlases, contrasting them with pre-independence atlases produced by colonial powers and with new editions published 25+ years after sovereignty. It unveils colonial and post-colonial narratives and explores different notions of the term "nation" as inclusive or exclusive constructions. The research shows that 80% of post-colonial states produced national atlases, often aimed at forging national identity and coherence.

Reviews: The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century

This review examines John Rennie Short's *The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century*, a comprehensive survey of official national atlases published worldwide during the twentieth century. Short interprets these atlases as rhetorical expressions of state 'cartographic power,' employed to legitimize territorial claims, consolidate national identities, and administer physical and social landscapes. Through case studies of Finland, Poland, Canada, Brazil, and several African nations, the book demonstrates how atlases reflect national agendas, contribute to nation-building, and evolve alongside political ruptures. The concluding chapter anticipates a digital future for the genre, proposing a 'Polyphonic Participatory Atlas' that offers a more inclusive platform. The reviewer praises the work's interdisciplinary depth but notes the notable absence of discussion on atlases from France, the UK, and Germany, and calls for a more thorough examination of the century's cartographic technological transitions.

Book review: The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas

This review presents John Rennie Short’s The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century as an accessible, carefully contextualized study developed over twenty years. The book examines national atlases as instruments of state-building, sovereignty, territorial claims, and political power, addressing related questions of racism, imperialism, colonialism, and national identity. Historical discussion and case studies—including Argentina, China, Peru, Korea, and Finland—illustrate how atlas-making has served territorial disputes and projects of national renewal, making the volume relevant to readers of cartography, globalization, and the nation-state.

Book reviews: The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century

In *The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century*, John Rennie Short chronicles the global phenomenon of national atlas publishing, beginning with Finland's pioneering effort in 1899 and followed by over 70 countries. Through close reading of atlases from 40+ nations, Short examines them as coproductions of science and state, highlighting how governments used maps to define borders and assert sovereignty amid “cartographic anxiety.” The author traces the atlas's evolution from topographical surveys to include environmental and social data, peaking in influence between 1960 and 1980 before declining with thematic atlases and digital geotechnologies. Despite this, Short argues the national atlas's legacy endures. Richly illustrated and insightful, the book offers a vital contribution to cartographic and political history scholarship.

Book reviews: The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century: Power, State and Territory

This review assesses John Rennie Short's "The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century: Power, State and Territory." Employing a critical-theory approach, Short examines the production and content of national atlases as instruments of statecraft, interrogating the connections between nation-state, science, territory, and power. The book analyzes how atlases respond to "cartographic anxiety" and express national identities, and explores their representation of global discourses, the physical world, and the social world. Short argues that while the traditional national atlas has declined due to data overload, technological change, and rising costs, new technologies offer opportunities for reimagining the atlas as an interactive, participatory web-based portal to geo-information. The reviewer regards this as a provocative and comprehensive first attempt to grapple with this form of cartographic statecraft, likely to spur new research interest.

The Atlas Cookbook: Ten Ingredients How to Edit an Atlas

The Atlas Cookbook: Ten Ingredients How to Edit an Atlas is a guidebook published by the ICA Commission on Atlases, offering comprehensive advice to atlas authors from conception to publication. Using the metaphor of a cookbook, it compares atlas production to running a restaurant: users' need for geo-information corresponds to the fundamental need for food; the atlas concept and type correspond to the restaurant's concept and location; the project team corresponds to the cooking team; data quality corresponds to ingredient quality; workflow corresponds to recipes; map design and visualization correspond to food presentation; user interface and interactivity correspond to cutlery and table settings; user feedback corresponds to customer reviews; and financial and political sustainability corresponds to bill payment. The book is organized into ten chapters covering organization and marketing, editorial aspects, atlas use, thematic and geographic content, data management, multimedia elements, GUI and layout design, map design and visualization, interactive functionality, and prototyping and evaluation. Written at a management level rather than a technical one, it is applicable to both digital and printed atlas projects, emphasizing user needs, data reliability, team collaboration, sustainability, and effective dissemination. Drawing on the extensive experience of multiple cartographic experts, the book provides practical examples and recommendations to inspire and guide the initiation and execution of new atlas projects.

Future National Atlases – Strategies for Tearing Down the User’s Firewall

National atlases have a long tradition; first copies were published in the 19th century (e.g., National Atlas de Finlande in 1899), and they consisted initially only of a series of topographic maps. In the mid 1950s, the IGU/ICA commission under the lead of Prof. Salitchev propagated a rigid scheme for the map content, consisting of the five categories: Physical environment, Population, Economy, Culture, and Administrative structure (Ormeling 2022). Large format printed atlases were produced, the aim being to demonstrate the power and the beauty of the country. Still today, some national atlases follow basically this structure, sometimes slightly adapted or extended with new categories like Traffic and Ecology. Common to all of these national atlases are well curated atlas maps with a strict display order, and mainly addressing the people of the own country, sometimes also used for nation building. With the emergence of electronic national atlases in the 1990s (e.g., Atlas of Canada, Atlas of Spain, Atlas of Sweden), the concept of interactivity was established in atlas GUIs and maps. The benefit of such an interactive design was achieved by changing the map layers, and through the combination of map layers. Around the year 2000, 3D visualizations became possible (e.g., Atlas of Switzerland). These features in digital atlases allowed users to create never-before-seen maps, and exploration of the map content with the help of free navigation, as well as compilation, analysis and comparison of maps and map elements (Hurni and Sieber 2018, Sieber et al. 2019). At the same time, the focus of national atlases shifted from the (propagandistic) nation's viewpoint to a more individual socio-cultural perspective, which is determined by the interests and needs of atlas users. However, with the transition from physical copies (book, CD-ROM, DVD) to publication on the Internet, the visibility of digital national atlases has decreased dramatically. Their use also stagnated because national atlases were not used as an everyday tool, as national and regional geo-browsers – some of which are competitors of an atlas – are today. The plan to install national atlases as an SDI frontend (Köbben 2017) has failed in large part, only the Atlas of the Ukraine is still following this strategy (Putrenko 2022). In addition, there are many internal challenges, inter alia static GUI design, an overload of atlas features, and repetitive visualization (Sieber and Losang 2020). Now, what could be the solution to solve this dilemma? How can we make national atlases more visible, more attractive and more integrated into daily life? We can try to solve this essential challenge with two propositions, one of them is basically a top-down approach, the other one a bottom-up approach. The goal of both approaches is to "tear down the firewall between the visualized data and the user", as Ian Muehlenhaus (2022) recently postulated. In the Top-down Approach, we rely on a customized application, specialized in terms of content, tools and topicality. The maps of such an atlas should cover mostly current events and changes. Thus, people are getting interested and hopefully stay tuned. The thematic focus could be on didactics or geo-sciences, for example, presented in a popular way. This enables the visualization of actual data and current issues. The Bottom-up Approach is apparently more user-driven.

National atlases – deconstructing the complex meaning of „national“

The publication of the Atlas de Finlande in 1899 is often praised as the manifestation of an atlas genre that spread over the course of the 20th century in the aftermath of two world wars and in the era of decolonisation. Nowadays the term "national" is often veiled by similar publications to avoid possible associations with fascist, revanchist or separatist motivations. It is this term "national" that also inspires the discussion of whether the Finnish national atlas can be taken as the first of its kind. Several cartographic scholars have discussed and defined alternative origins of the concept. Based on a variety of explanatory approaches they end up in differing definitions. How national atlases fit into the different approaches has been a topic of academic cartographic considerations that often merely touched the important technological, institutional, economic, societal, political and user-centric developments, especially in the past decades. In addition, approaches to categorise atlases, which focus solely on empirical or structural elements, such as the number and topics of maps and their temporal and spatial sequence, can reduce the scope of analysis. This paper takes up a post-structuralist approach, asking questions about the changing national narratives that drive national atlases over time by employing a critical approach that situates national atlases in their respective contexts based on a wider systematic consideration of changes in the meaning of the term "national". Thus, not only historical contexts but their inscription as a "story" that atlases tell come to the fore in an analysis of production systems, self-definition and academic reception as well as aspects of how the use of toponyms drives and, inversely, is driven by national narratives. In conclusion, the paper contributes to discussions of canonical definitions of national atlases. By situating them in their respective historical contexts, it unveils how and under what circumstances concepts have changed and explains why recent developments need to be considered when talking about the definitions and the further development of national atlases.

The emergence of the national atlas concept

This paper will follow the development of the national atlas concept, describing the components that successively were being regarded as belonging in a national atlas. It highlights the role of the IGU Commission on National [and regional] atlases (1956–76), chaired by Professors Salishchev and Lehmann respectively, and of the Joint IGU-ICA working group on Environmental Atlases 1976–1987 chaired by Prof. Vazquez Maure, followed by Bickmore. To continue its work, in 1987 the International Cartographic Association created its own Commission on National Atlases. The early history of this ICA commission is described by Bengt Rystedt and Ferjan Ormeling in a paper on the ICA Atlas Commission’s website (Ormeling and Rystedt 2018).

The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century: Power, State and Territory

Between 1900 and 2000, more than seventy countries produced a national atlas, an official or quasi-official rendering of the nation-state in maps and accompanying text. This book considers the reasons behind and characteristics of this state-sponsored cartographic explosion. These national atlases mirror and embody some of the important themes of this turbulent century, including the complex connections between nation, state and territory, the rise of state-sponsored science; the growth of nation-states; colonialism and postcolonialism; and the geography of biopolitics.

National atlases - an atlas type reconsidered

The publication of the first National Atlas in 1899 marked the emergence of an atlas category that thrived over the upcoming century. The "Atlas de Finlande", successfully presented at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, used to coin this title and being published in Paris by the National Geographic Society of Finland, had a true nation-building function. In the same year, following the US victory in the Spanish-American War, the Atlas of the Philippine Islands (Atlas de Filipinas) was published by the US Coastal and Geodetic Survey, containing two front pages, one in English indicating the USC&GS as publisher, the other in Spanish mentioning the supervision of the project by Father J. Algue, the director of the Manila Observatory. Never referred to as a national atlas, it comprises a series of maps on the Islands and a bilingual abstract on map conventions, a bilingual gazetteer and a thorough introduction into places, places names and their pronunciation. For these atlases, the publication circumstances remain somehow heterogeneous and cannot be compared with modern national atlases and even atlases published in the same period seem to have different hallmarks. Why considering the Atlas de Finlande a national atlas but define the 1878 Statistical Atlas of the United States only a statistical Atlas? Because of the title? What atlases are more nationally defined than school atlases? Is an atlas published by a non-governmental executing agency a national atlas? Is governmental support and approval needed? How national atlases fit into different approaches to thoroughly define them (e.g. Salischew 1967) has been subject to academic cartographic self-conception that ignored technological, institutional, economic and user-related developments over time. In addition, these approaches to categorise atlases solely focused structural elements, such as the number and topics of maps and their temporal and spatial sequence. The question of how atlases have been characterised by their publishers and have been perceived in closely following reviews is a possible approach to either situate national atlases as a strict category or a politically induced perception. The article introduces a post-structuralist approach focussing the textual analysis of both, self-perception verbalized through introductions and prefaces in respective atlases and reviews, contemporarily published in the following years. Introducing common definitions and juxtapose the historical perception of national atlases tries to operationalize Harley's critical approach, that situates maps in their respective historical context. By regarding an atlas not only as a bound collection of maps but as a carefully organised selection of spatial information unveils the power of atlases, which maybe exceeds those of single maps. To analyse atlases in their historic context by including their self-definition and contemporary perception will identify so far unattended aspects and to alternative views on national atlases and their editing and production frameworks. Thus retrograde definitions can be reconsidered.

Symposium on Atlases, Toponymy and the History of Cartography: Proceedings of the ICC 2015 Pre-Conference

This volume presents the proceedings of the Joint Commission Symposium on Historical Maps, Atlases and Toponymy, held at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in Rio de Janeiro on 19–21 August 2015 as a pre-conference event of the 27th International Cartographic Conference. Organized by the International Cartographic Association’s commissions on the History of Cartography and Atlases and the joint ICA–IGU working group on Toponymy, the symposium brought together studies of atlas production, historical cartography, geographical names, ethnocartography, and cartographic heritage. Although Brazil constitutes the principal geographical focus, comparative material from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Romania, Switzerland, and Central Europe broadens the collection’s international scope. Several papers examine the conception and development of national, regional, electoral, and statistical atlases. They address the long-term management of the Atlas of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the representation and consolidation of Brazilian territory in the National Brazilian Atlas and the 1940 Atlas, electoral change in post-1990 Romania, and the centenary reinterpretation of Switzerland’s graphical-statistical atlas. Together, these contributions emphasize atlases as research infrastructures, historical records, instruments of territorial governance, and accessible guides to social transformation. A second thematic cluster concerns ethnicity and Indigenous mapping. Studies reconstruct the distribution of Indigenous peoples in Central Brazil between 1700 and 1900, analyze István Györffy’s ethnic maps of Central Europe, and assess participatory mapmaking in Amazonian communities. These works demonstrate how ethnocartography can recover historical spatial patterns, preserve cultural memory, strengthen territorial management, and empower Indigenous peoples, while also requiring critical attention to sources and representational practices. Further contributions investigate the field collection, certification, and GIS-based analysis of geographical names, presenting toponymy as both spatial information and intangible cultural heritage. Historical studies reassess IBGE’s institutional role in modernizing Brazilian civil cartography, propose a revised configuration of the hereditary captaincies based on newly examined boundary evidence, and reveal the importance of interinstitutional and international cooperation. The concluding study surveys the rare cartographic holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil, including editions of Ptolemy, Ortelius, Mercator, Blaeu, Portuguese manuscript atlases, maps of Brazil and overseas possessions, and French, Dutch, German, British, and American works. These materials trace the encounter with and representation of new territories, advances in printing, surveying, astronomy, geodesy, and state-sponsored mapping, as well as Brazil’s territorial formation. Overall, the proceedings show that maps, atlases, and place names are not neutral repositories of location. They are historically situated forms of knowledge that shape collective identity, political authority, cultural preservation, and understandings of social and territorial change. The volume therefore connects technical cartographic practice with historical inquiry and heritage stewardship, while highlighting libraries, statistical agencies, scholars, and local communities as key participants in producing, interpreting, and preserving geographical knowledge.

Joint Commission Seminar on Historical Maps, Atlases and Toponymy

This edited volume presents the proceedings of the Joint Commission Seminar on Historical Maps, Atlases and Toponymy, held at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig on 22–23 August 2013 as a pre-conference event of the 26th International Cartographic Conference. The seminar was jointly organized by the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on the History of Cartography and Commission on Atlases, together with the ICA–International Geographical Union body on toponymy. With approximately forty participants and seventeen papers, the event developed from an intended small workshop into a focused conference whose contributions were connected by the common theme of place names. The volume examines how historical maps, atlases, and toponyms produce, organize, communicate, and contest geographical knowledge. It presents atlas making not as the simple compilation of maps but as a complex intellectual and editorial enterprise involving conceptual design, thematic selection, financing, author coordination, data transformation, cartographic methodology, integration of texts and images, attention to users, and dissemination. National, regional, and urban atlases are shown to contribute to community formation, representations of national identity, regional self-understanding, and place branding. Toponyms, meanwhile, are treated as far more than marginal labels. They preserve historical memory, express cultural identity, exercise symbolic power, and may become objects of political dispute; their selection, translation, standardization, and replacement therefore demand both scholarly care and sensitivity to social context. Across the collection, historical map interpretation, archival research, historical geography, GIS-based analysis, atlas studies, and critical toponymy are brought together to investigate the relationships between cartographic representation, territorial administration, ethnic and cultural patterns, and social change. The concluding study of colonial southern Africa illustrates these concerns particularly clearly. It traces how surveying, boundary making, land titling, and place-name inscription helped colonial authorities render territory administratively legible and reorder landscapes and societies. At the same time, it emphasizes that mapped categories and imposed names were never accepted passively: local communities could reinterpret, appropriate, preserve alternative meanings for, or resist colonial spatial classifications. Such afterlives remain relevant beyond the formal colonial period. Overall, the volume argues for sustained collaboration among geography, cartography, history, and toponymy. By treating maps and atlases simultaneously as technical artifacts, historical sources, cultural representations, and instruments of governance, it demonstrates that cartographic scholarship can illuminate not only changing spatial knowledge but also the identities, conflicts, and power relations embedded in the naming and mapping of places.

National Atlas

This article reviews the historical development, institutional foundations, changing purposes, and technological transformation of national atlases. Defined as comprehensive, multi-subject cartographic representations of a country’s physical, socioeconomic, cultural, and political geography, national atlases emerged in the late nineteenth century as expanding statistical and geoscientific data required systematic visualization. Early works, especially Finland’s 1899 atlas, also expressed national identity, while later projects supported territorial knowledge, planning, education, resource development, administration, and research. Drawing on representative atlases and international initiatives, the article traces the field from early printed inventories through its twentieth-century peak between 1950 and 1980. It highlights the coordinating roles of geographical societies, academies, government agencies, and the International Geographical Union, particularly Salishchev’s attempt to standardize atlas contents, scales, and reference periods. Although full international uniformity was not achieved, these efforts stimulated widespread national atlas production. From the 1980s onward, atlas design shifted from celebrating national achievements and emphasizing physical geography toward addressing human-centered policy issues such as unemployment, pollution, demographic change, unequal access to resources, and rural service decline. Target audiences likewise broadened from specialists to educated general readers, encouraging clearer texts, smaller formats, and modular thematic volumes. By the end of the twentieth century, digital databases, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and web platforms had transformed atlases into interactive national geospatial information systems offering multiscale displays, time series, customized classification, data integration, querying, and historical archives. Canadian and American projects exemplify this transition. The article concludes that national atlases are not merely map collections or symbols of statehood: they are collaborative infrastructures that reveal both the extent and gaps of national knowledge, organize geospatial expertise, support public decision-making and education, and provide accessible gateways to authoritative spatial data.

Soils in national atlases of different countries

An analysis of the contents and legends of soil maps (basic and soil-related ones) in the national atlases published in the last 25–30 years was performed. Only national atlases as integral cartographic products of high scientific level implementing the recent soil–geographic and classification concepts were considered. These were atlases of thirty countries, mainly of the European ones, published in traditional and electronic formats. Soil classifications used for the basic soil maps comprise the national classifications, sometimes with the synonyms of the FAO Soil Map legend or the World Reference Base, and rarely with those from American Soil Taxonomy. In most atlases, only dominant soils are shown on soil maps, sometimes soil-forming rocks are mentioned, and rarely natural zones are. Along with the basic soil maps, there are supplementary ones containing data on soil properties and regimes, as well as diverse maps compiled for agricultural and ecological purposes; in terms of methodology, the maps may be qualified as interpretation and factual ones. The integrity of all these maps provides a comprehensive insight into the ecological functions of the soils.

Communication of identities through national atlases

National atlases represent a prime example of Europe's collective identity, with their concept rooted in the Romano-Hellenic tradition and adapted to the information revolution in the 19th century. This paper explores how various European states have dealt with the national atlas concept, analyzing the impact of natural conditions, historical backgrounds, and national issues on the diversity of atlas contents. Despite attempts at standardization, European individuality has led to varied atlas contents, from forest maps in Finland to social phenomenon maps in Germany. National atlases serve not only as showcases of national achievements but also as symbols of national identity and ambition, reflecting societal changes. With the advent of digital technology, atlases have adapted to the current information revolution by taking digital forms, enhancing their analytical potential. The conclusion emphasizes that national atlases, as portals to the issues confronting European nations, should continue to function through new platforms such as the internet.

Moderne Atlaskartographie im Spiegel von National- und Regionalatlanten - Bestandsaufnahme und Entwicklungslinien

In the available opening and closing sections, Ferjan Ormeling surveys modern national and regional atlas cartography through production, distribution, modes of use, and links to data files. He notes vigorous atlas production in Eastern Europe and Asia, while maintenance and updating after publication are not always assured. Print, CD-ROM, and web atlases can be combined to exploit their respective strengths in visual presentation, data storage, and continuing updates. Digital atlases support viewing, interaction, analysis, data mining, and the visualization of linked datasets. Swiss and Austrian examples address multivariate mapping, adaptive legends, zooming, layer management, and the balance between user flexibility and cartographic legibility. The planned third edition of the Dutch national atlas would draw directly on mapping and statistical agencies’ datasets through the national geospatial data infrastructure to generate maps. The closing discussion evaluates the National Atlas of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ormeling calls for fuller explanations of volume design, data gaps, substitute sources, and editorial compromises, while praising the mapping of cultural participation and everyday life, the consistent integration of contributions from numerous authors, and the final volume’s portrayal of life stages and social life in Germany.

Scenarios for National Atlas Use

Scenarios for National Atlas use. This article focuses on national atlases as a synthesis of the spatial knowledge that characterize a country or a national territory. Study of national atlases can involve temporal geographical or thematic comparisons which are seen as a scientific methodology. Map use strategies for national atlases are also considered in the article. The analysis ends with "functionality required" based on Simon van Leeuwen's proposal (1996) based on eight functional classes of digital atlases: comparisons are made by zooming pairs of maps simultaneously.

The national atlas as a metaphor for improved use of a national geospatial data infrastructure

Geospatial Data infrastructures have been developed worldwide. Geoportals have been created as an interface to allow users or the community to discover and use geospatial data offered by providers of these initiatives. This study focuses on the development of a web national atlas as an alternative means to geoportals, when accessing a Geospatial Data Infrastructure (GDI). From usability studies undertaken during this study, it was apparent that interaction methods and information presented in many geoportals to help user review and make sense of the search results are far from optimal. The virtue of maps and graphics in order to stimulate visual thinking and to provide effective communication before and after 'a search' in current geoportals have not yet been considered essential. As a proposed solution, a national atlas metaphor was developed. The prospective use of the atlas schemata includes the prominent role of maps in the atlas and the organizational approach of the atlas were explored to transform design ideas into a working prototype of an atlas interface metaphor for improved accessibility of the GDI, called Aim4GDI. The Aim4GDI applied the atlas information structure (built as the realization of an adaptation of the atlas schemata) in order to organize thematic maps, images, graphics and information resources related to the GDI including metadata summaries. Metadata summaries are aggregated metadata of geospatial resources in the GDI such as offline data, WMS, and feature services (WFS). The Aim4GDI combines the metadata and query language for the Semantic Web with cartographic design templates in managing and visualizing metadata summaries. This prototype enables users to search and browse geospatial resources through developed visual methods. The table, thumbnail, bull's-eye, and Parallel Coordinate Plots (PCP) views are the visual methods that can help users indicate, compare, and associate the search results. The visual methods that are offered to help users browse and make sense of the geospatial resources include the topic directory and a map viewer, thumbnail, PCP, and in-focus views. In support of browsing interactions, the developed information structure is used as a narrative structure for providing an interactive storytelling presentation to users while browsing. To further demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, an extension of the atlas metaphor to support collaboration efforts via the GDI was developed. The usefulness of the visual methods of the Aim4GDI to help users search, browse, and collaborate with each other using geospatial data offered in the GDI were confirmed in a series of use assessments. It can be concluded that a national atlas metaphor is essential not only to represent a synthesis of knowledge of physical and geographic elements that characterize a country, but also to improve the discovery and use of geospatial resources offered via a GDI. Although this study focused on the use of a national atlas metaphor in the context of the national Dutch GDI, the results of this study are also applicable in order to help other countries advance the role of their national atlases in the world of GDI.

Joint ICA Commissions Seminar: Internet-Based Cartographic Teaching and Learning: Atlases, Map Use, and Visual Analytics

This edited volume documents the Joint ICA Commissions Seminar on “Internet-Based Cartographic Teaching and Learning: Atlases, Map Use, and Visual Analytics,” held at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid on 6–8 July 2005 as part of the 22nd International Cartographic Conference. Bringing together five commissions of the International Cartographic Association, the seminar examines how web technologies, geographic information systems, multimedia, mobile computing, and interactive visualization were transforming cartographic education, atlas production, map use, and spatial communication. The contributions span curriculum design for Internet cartographers, open-source environments for education and research, search-engine mapping, distance and problem-based learning, field instruction with mobile computers, and institutional responses to the transition from traditional cartography toward integrated geospatial solutions. A major theme is the educational and technical development of national, regional, and school web atlases. Case studies from Canada, Quebec, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and other regions discuss atlas information systems, web-atlas engineering, cybercartography, animated maps, thematic mapping, military-history atlases, and the relationship between printed and digital products. Rather than treating new media as an automatic replacement for paper, several studies investigate their complementarity and compare web atlases, static maps, and animations in terms of reading, comprehension, usability, and learning effectiveness. Children’s cartographic cognition and spatial communication form another central strand. Research addresses pupils’ and teachers’ use of thematic maps, children’s preferred modes of spatial expression, world-map cognition, and map-supported instruction in Earth science and extraterrestrial geography. The volume also emphasizes user-centred evaluation and responsible design: usability methods, observation of computer-based mapping, cognitive specifications, modelling reliability, controlled flexibility in online systems, and the semiotics of WebGIS are presented as means of ensuring that technically sophisticated applications remain intelligible and educationally meaningful. Further contributions illustrate emerging applications, including augmented reality for landscape assessment, Internet visualization of seismic events, interoperable web services, interactive layer styling, spatial-information sharing, and sensor- or infrastructure-oriented geospatial technologies. Collectively, the proceedings portray cartographic learning as an interdisciplinary, international enterprise linking pedagogy, cognitive research, visual analytics, software engineering, and geographic information science. They argue implicitly for curricula that combine enduring cartographic principles with practical digital competencies, critical evaluation, and sensitivity to different users and learning contexts. The author biographies and multinational participant list further demonstrate the seminar’s broad professional network and its role in fostering collaboration among universities, government agencies, schools, and mapping organizations.

International Conference on National and Regional Atlases

This report covers the International Conference on National and Regional Atlases, held in Kolkata, India, from February 22 to 24, 2003. Sponsored by the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO) of India, the conference was co-organized with the ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases and the Memorial Foundation to Prof. S.P. Chatterjee. The event commemorated Professor Chatterjee's outstanding contributions to geography and cartography, particularly his role in establishing the National Atlas Organization in 1956. Nearly 200 participants from government, academia, and the private sector attended, engaging in technical sessions on atlas products, automated cartography, and future directions. A panel discussion highlighted the need to balance traditional high standards with modern automated methods to meet growing mapping demands. The conference successfully shared past achievements and charted a path for future possibilities in atlas cartography.

Proceedings: Seminar for ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases, 2001 Beijing

This proceedings volume documents the Seminar of the ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases held in Beijing in August 2001 and presents a broad account of atlas development at the turn of the twenty-first century. Jointly organized by the ICA Commission, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Cartography and GIS Committee of the Geographical Society of China, the seminar brought together specialists from China, the United States, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, the Czech Republic, Poland, South Korea, and other countries. Its speeches and reports place particular emphasis on the modernization of Chinese cartography and on the compilation and publication of major works such as the National Physical Atlas of China and the National Economic Atlas of China. The contributions review the scientific organization of source materials, thematic design, scale selection, cartographic representation, and integrated synthesis, while highlighting the value of national atlases for understanding national conditions, assessing resources and environments, supporting regional planning, and informing sustainable-development policy. Other themes include the proposed ICA Demographic World Atlas, GIS-based urban mapping, environmental and health or disease mapping, and the construction and application of Chinese datasets for Global Map. A central concern throughout the volume is the transition from printed atlases to electronic, multimedia, and Internet-based atlas information systems. The reports examine the integration of geographic information systems, remote sensing, GPS, databases, telecommunications, and web technologies, with case studies on the electronic and online versions of the National Physical Atlas of China. They also describe EA-World, a Windows-based production environment whose ColorMagic, SymbolMagic, MapMagic, EA-Power, and EA-Viewer modules support color and symbol management, map compilation and editing, integrated processing, visualization, maintenance, and publication. Compatibility with common vector formats, including ARC/INFO coverage, E00, and shapefiles, and raster formats such as BMP, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, and PCX illustrates the growing importance of interoperable digital workflows. The extensive exhibition and appended bibliography of national, thematic, provincial, regional, and urban atlases demonstrate the breadth of Chinese achievements in physical geography, economics, population, ecology, disasters, land use, conservation, and urban development. Overall, the volume records a significant episode of international cartographic cooperation and shows how the atlas was evolving from a static collection of printed maps into an integrated geographic information system capable of retrieval, spatial analysis, dynamic updating, network dissemination, and decision support.

National and regional atlases and national/regional identity

National and Regional Atlases and National/Regional Identity Publishers of national and regional atlases aim not only to convey information but also to present national and regional identity. The article presents four atlases: the Tyrol Atlas, the Regional Atlas of Lower and Opole Silesia, the Concise Atlas of the Republic of Croatia & of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and the Slovenian National Atlas. The author defines what kind of national or regional identity the atlases convey.

Proceedings of the Seminar on Mapping the World in 2000 and After Held at the Geoinformatica 2000 - Informatica 2000 Congress at the Havana Convention Centre, Cuba 22-27 May 2000

These proceedings document the seminar on “Mapping the World in 2000 and After,” held during the GEOMATICA 2000–INFORMATICA 2000 Congress in Havana, Cuba, in May 2000. Bringing together approximately 150 specialists from 19 countries, the congress examined the transformation of cartography and geomatics at the beginning of the digital era. Its central theme—global integration of geospatial data and services—connected discussions of digital cartography, geographic information systems, spatial-data standards, electronic navigational charts, GPS, photogrammetry, remote sensing, and national geospatial-data infrastructures. A major argument is that cartography has evolved from map production, through spatial communication and visualization, into the design of decision-support environments. Although digital tools have democratized mapmaking and automated routine production, professional cartographers remain essential for evaluating data quality, integrating heterogeneous sources, selecting information appropriate to particular purposes, and designing effective visual representations. They increasingly act as brokers who connect spatial data, technologies, and users. The collected presentations combine conceptual analysis with practical instruction. They address the foundations of topographic mapping; Cuban experience in producing digital topographic maps; structural and user-oriented requirements for school, census, and national atlases; the current condition and future development of atlas cartography in Cuba; and the application of maps to planning and sustainable development. Considerable attention is given to production management, including project definition, workflow design, scheduling, direction, quality control, resource allocation, and cost calculation. The proceedings also situate map production within an international standardization framework encompassing OpenGIS specifications, ISO/TC 211, the S-57 hydrographic standard, and strategies for worldwide electronic navigational-chart databases. These initiatives demonstrate the need for interoperable data, shared specifications, coordinated institutions, and reliable mechanisms for disseminating spatial information. Practical appendices extend the seminar’s educational purpose through exercises in school-atlas planning, production-flow modelling, layout design for printed and screen maps, and basic HTML techniques. Examples involving hyperlinks, images, tables, frames, image exchange, and cascading style sheets show how cartographic communication was expanding from paper into interactive, monitor-based environments. The congress additionally supported technical visits, institutional networking, commercial exchange, and the launch of a Cuban initiative for a National Geospatial Data Infrastructure linked to the country’s informatization programme. Overall, the volume presents cartography as an interdisciplinary and rapidly changing field in which technological innovation must be balanced by sound design, quality assessment, standardization, economic planning, professional education, and attention to user needs. It records both international trends and Cuban achievements while offering a practical foundation for strengthening cartographic capacity and geospatial cooperation in Cuba, Central America, and the wider international community.

Nationalatlanten - Entwicklungsgeschichte und Ausblick

In the supplied opening and closing sections, Christian Witschel discusses the historical phases, changing functions, and digital prospects of national atlases. An analysis of 56 atlases examines relationships between their concepts, cartographic presentation, and intended functions. Atlases published before 1918 were bound volumes emphasizing physical geography and analytical maps. During the 1920s and 1930s, publication formats diversified and economic themes gained prominence. Between 1946 and 1960, boxed loose-leaf editions appeared, summary representations increased, and printing quality improved. Subsequent developments included smaller formats, indexes, and an East–West contrast in analytical and synthetic approaches. From the 1970s, thematic volumes, continuously expandable loose-leaf editions, problem-oriented topics, and photographic illustrations became more common. Electronic versions were initiated in the late 1980s, while marketing to broader audiences encouraged simpler maps. The author links the early Finnish and Canadian national atlases to political representation supporting aspirations for sovereignty, and identifies the Soviet atlas of 1937–1940 as intended to support political and economic planning. The closing sections outline electronic atlases’ advantages in production costs, tailored information retrieval, interactivity, and updating, while noting that unequal technical resources and expertise will sustain multiple publication formats during a transition. The author anticipates the predominance of fully digital systems, stresses coordination and standards for electronic publishing, and recommends retaining printed editions for readers needing introductory information or lacking access to technology, thereby supporting public access to national-atlas information.

Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases and National Atlas Information Systems in the Information Age: Held at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, August 4–7, 1998

These proceedings document the ninth meeting of the ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases, held at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík on 4–7 August 1998. Twenty participants presented eighteen papers on electronic atlases and national atlas information systems. The foreword identifies reports on national atlas developments in Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Russia, and Spain; commercial mapping tools and digital production; publication across different media; and links among national atlases, geospatial data infrastructures, Internet dissemination, and public data access. Other topics included atlas metadata, the National Atlas of the United States as an interagency portal, and collaborative checking of the Encarta World Atlas. The concluding visible paper argues that modifying or extending metadata standards with fields for atlas functions and intended uses would support systematic documentation and Internet access. Its Cartographic Meta-Information Tool (CMIT) supports entry, retrieval, and management of metadata, with the primary aim of describing and studying electronic atlases. The volume also commemorates Icelandic geography professor and seminar organizer Gylfi Mar Gudbergsson, who died shortly before the meeting; both the seminar and proceedings were dedicated to him.

Atlas Production for Southeast Asia: Vol 2 of the Proceedings of the International Workshop / Seminar 'Modern Cartography for Navigating the Information Highway' Held in Bandung, Indonesia March 3-14, 1997

This volume, derived from the 1997 Bandung seminar “Modern Cartography for Navigating the Information Highway,” examines the concepts, educational requirements, design principles, and production practices needed to develop national and school atlases, with particular attention to Southeast Asia. It argues that spatial data acquire meaning through relationships and patterns, making cartographic visualization indispensable for analysis, understanding, communication, and spatial decision-making. Although digital technologies and geographic information systems have greatly expanded access to mapping, they do not replace cartographic expertise; effective maps still require informed selection, generalization, symbolization, visual hierarchy, and adaptation to users’ needs. The collection clarifies atlas terminology and concepts, reviews the functions and production of national atlases, and treats them as important sources and infrastructural foundations for comprehensive school atlases. School-atlas cartography is distinguished by its educational purposes, intended age groups, cognitive demands, and close relationship with curricula. Comparisons between Indonesia and the Netherlands show that curriculum objectives determine the subjects, regions, scales, and spatial relationships represented, while analyses of Indonesian geography and social-science textbooks reveal the broader developmental role of map literacy. A proposed Southeast Asian production model stresses coherent structure, appropriate thematic coverage, regional relevance, technical quality, collaboration among cartographers, educators, officials, and publishers, and careful control of costs and workflows. The volume also considers electronic school atlases, illustrated by Japanese primary education, emphasizing their potential for interaction, flexible display, exploration, and learner engagement while recognizing the continuing importance of sound cartographic design. Particular attention is given to geographical names. Choices involving spelling, exonyms, diacritics, transliteration, and transcription from alphabetic and ideographic writing systems affect pronunciation, identity, standardization, and long-term public usage. Indonesian and Javanese examples demonstrate how forms introduced on authoritative maps may become conventional even when linguistically inaccurate. The volume therefore concludes that atlas production is not merely a technical publishing activity but an educational and cultural responsibility. Successful atlases require reliable national spatial information, curriculum-sensitive visualization, professional cartographic judgment, early consultation with toponymic specialists, and sustained regional cooperation. By integrating traditional practice with emerging electronic media, the proceedings seek to strengthen school-atlas development and spatial literacy throughout Southeast Asia.

Nationalatlanten: Entwicklung, Konzeption, Gestaltung und Funktion

This study presents a systematic comparative history of national atlases, examining their development, conception, cartographic design, and social and political functions from the emergence of the genre in 1899 to the mid-1990s. Motivated partly by renewed interest in a unified German national atlas after German reunification, it addresses the absence of a comprehensive comparison of these complex thematic cartographic works. The author defines the national atlas as a nationally oriented synthesis of spatial knowledge and analyzes 56 representative atlases from five continents, selected from publications issued by more than 80 countries. The investigation combines chronological comparison, conceptual and cartographic typology, and interpretation within the relevant historical and political contexts. Six principal phases are distinguished: the formative period from 1899 to 1918; development between the world wars; the postwar phase from 1946 to 1960; expansion during the 1960s; consolidation and diversification in the 1970s; and new approaches since the early 1980s. For each phase, the study considers thematic organization, intended readership, information content, modes of publication, map design, visual hierarchy, and the relationship between analytical, complex, and synthetic representations. It also assesses the influence of recommendations issued by the International Geographical Union and gives particular attention to Finland’s national atlases as a recurring benchmark within the general development of the genre. The comparison demonstrates that national atlases have never been merely neutral collections of maps. Their purposes have shifted in accordance with political conditions, scientific paradigms, planning requirements, educational objectives, and changing conceptions of national identity. Earlier works primarily inventoried territory and resources and contributed to national representation, whereas later atlases increasingly supported research, administration, regional planning, education, and public communication. Cartographic development likewise moved from relatively isolated analytical maps toward more integrated, typological, complex, and synthetic presentations. Examples from Finland, France, Canada, Cuba, the German Democratic Republic, and Sweden illustrate changing levels of thematic integration, graphic sophistication, explanatory text, and accessibility. On the basis of these historical findings, the study proposes a framework for future national atlases, with special reference to the planned Atlas of the Federal Republic of Germany. It emphasizes coherent conception, systematic thematic coverage, consistent cartographic standards, interdisciplinary collaboration, and adaptation to diverse user groups. The final sections document the German project’s planning between 1990 and 1994 and its reconceptualization after responsibility was transferred to the Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig in 1995. The study concludes by identifying electronic media, digital databases, and networked forms of publication as major forces in the future transformation of national atlases, enabling more current, flexible, interactive, and widely accessible representations of national space.

Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases II Held at Charles University, Prague, July 31-August 2, 1996, and at the 28th IGU Conference, The Hague, August 8, 1996

The visible opening and closing materials of Electronic Atlases II describe proceedings from ICA seminars held in Prague and The Hague in 1996. The editors identify expanding Internet access and its use for atlas communication as the principal development since the 1993 Visegrad seminar. The contents cover electronic atlas production, Internet-based design and delivery, school-atlas functionality, multimedia navigation metaphors, and national atlas reports. Examples include China’s electronic National Economic Atlas, Japan’s electronic national atlas, Canada’s Internet atlas, Dutch web-production experience, and the US Census Bureau’s planned data access and dissemination system. In the opening contribution, Bengt Rystedt describes electronic atlases as combining data and software for exploration, multimedia for educational and public use, and GIS functions for national or regional analysis; Internet delivery and national spatial data infrastructures introduce possibilities for virtual atlases. The foreword records plans for a practical guide for electronic atlas producers and the creation of a commission website. In the closing excerpt, Timothy Trainor calls for shared strategies and tangible results for users of the US National Atlas. The appended programmes document presentations and demonstrations, including approximately thirty electronic atlases displayed on five systems in The Hague. These excerpts establish the meetings’ scope and priorities without providing the intervening papers’ detailed arguments or results.

Electronic Atlases: National and Regional Applications

The digital revolution will impose considerable change on atlas cartography. Traditional paper atlases will be produced and marketed for quite some time to come. However, their merit and viability will be increasingly challenged by innovative digital atlas products. These new atlas products will change the image of the atlas as we know it today. In fact, they may well advance the concept of "an atlas" towards that of a sophisticated atlas-based, integrated information system. Today, we can only speculate what exact shape these new atlas information products will take; the digital technology revolution and the information revolution are still too young to forecast their exact impacts. A point made in this paper is that, in the process of visualizing innovative atlas products, it is not appropriate for atlas makers and cartographers to be guided by and drift with technology trends, adopting and adapting technology. We need to visualize the next generation of atlas products by looking beyond the limitations of today's technology capabilities. Instead of following technological innovations, we should identify what technological capabilities we need and direct the computing industry to deliver on our needs. A second point elaborated in this paper is that we should start seriously to consult the atlas user community when visualizing the next generation of atlas products. We should ask the atlas readership to tell us what information contents and what query and analytical capabilities we should be adding to the future atlas, and we should give the users a chance to tell us their preferred methods of information access and retrieval. A question that this paper has failed to address is: who should conceptualize, operationalize and maintain the next generation of digital atlases? It is anticipated that the future digital atlas information systems will be beyond the skills and capabilities of the traditional team of individuals putting together a paper atlas. The know-how, funding, administration, and technological requirements necessary to make the next generation of digital atlas information systems work will exceed the capabilities of any one individual or stakeholder group. These new atlas products will need to be conceptualized, developed, and administered by a consortium of experts from universities and research institutes, industry and government. The biggest challenge facing any new atlas initiative in the 1990s is to secure the considerable financial support required to make it all work. The atlas research community needs to share information about how to politic and bid successfully to secure the necessary funds. One thing is for sure: having a well-defined and exciting product vision that has received endorsement from the atlas user community will lend credibility and weight to an effort to secure atlas funding.

Neue Formen, Konzepte und Strukturen von Nationalatlanten

This article examines the transformation of European national atlases in the early 1990s, focusing on changes in their forms, concepts, production methods, organizational structures, and intended uses. Traditional national atlases were largely based on the model developed by Salishchev and Lehmann for the International Geographical Union: they presented a detailed, positivist inventory of a country through a predetermined sequence of themes derived from the conventional regional-geographical scheme. Recent atlases of Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland still retain elements of this model, but they also introduce extensive explanatory texts, application-oriented and problem-focused maps, cross-references, synthesis maps, and representations of social change and environmental conditions. National atlases are therefore shifting from static inventories of territory and economic resources toward instruments that identify contemporary problems, support research, and communicate the state of society and the environment to a broader public. The Dutch, Swedish, and Finnish projects exemplify a more human-centered approach by treating physical resources primarily in relation to inhabitants’ living conditions. Their publication in smaller thematic volumes also marks a departure from the monumental atlas as a prestigious national showcase. Computer-assisted production further enables parallel paper and electronic editions whose contents may complement rather than duplicate one another. Emerging digital atlases are classified into three types: view-only atlases with fixed displays, interactive atlases that allow users to alter colors or classifications, and analytical atlases that support the visualization and evaluation of freely selected combinations of attribute data. Electronic environments weaken the importance of a prescribed map sequence and permit users to reorganize materials according to specific questions, themes, or scales. Functions such as changing data resolution, highlighting areas with identical values, switching between absolute and relative values, and displaying information by grids or administrative units can reveal new spatial patterns. Nevertheless, an atlas remains a deliberate, systematic, and ordered combination of maps. Its narrative structure distinguishes it from a geographic information system, even when users are granted substantial freedom of navigation and analysis. The article argues that future national atlases must be not only informative but also visually compelling. Because static cartographic images now compete with television, video, and computer games, atlas makers need stronger narratives, multimedia integration, and even exploratory or adventure-like scenarios to attract especially younger audiences and justify high production costs. Delays in current atlas programs should thus be regarded as opportunities to rethink concepts, scripts, and user experiences. A new generation of national atlases should combine cartographic rigor, problem orientation, interactivity, flexible scale and thematic access, and engaging storytelling in order to meet the technological and communicative challenges of the electronic age.

Review: Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases

This review examines the 1993 Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases, situating the volume within the rapid transition from printed atlases to digital and multimedia mapping. The collection contains 22 papers organized around Hungarian atlas cartography, electronic-atlas production, and the use of spatial data in digital atlases. Particularly valuable contributions trace Canadian mapping systems, present Swedish and Dutch production approaches, and describe a North American statistical boundary project. Other cases address emergency mapping, policy support in China, historical-atlas digitization, multimedia education, and hypermedia development. The reviewer notes that arranging papers by presentation order may obscure important discussions, including a late definition of electronic atlases. Nevertheless, the volume is praised for its rapid publication, strong illustrations, and practical value to cartographic professionals and prospective electronic-atlas developers.

The rise of the national atlas

National atlases play multiple roles. In addition to providing a coherent summary of a country's physical and human geography, the national atlas has been a symbol of national unity, scientific achievement, and political independence. The first national atlas, Christopher Saxton's Atlas of England and Wales (1579), not only represented the unity of the English state but also celebrated Elizabeth I's patronage of astronomy and geography. Although governments have commissioned single-county atlases intermittently since Saxton's time, the national atlas did not emerge as a distinct cartographic genre until the late nineteenth century. Cartobibliographies and other enumerations of national atlases reveal noteworthy increases during the 1920s and 1930s and again in the 1950s and 1960s, when many former colonies gained independence.

Proceedings: ICA National and Regional Atlases Commission Meeting, May 1992, Madrid

This volume documents the May 1992 meeting in Madrid of the International Cartographic Association’s newly renamed Commission on National and Regional Atlases, hosted by Spain’s National Geographic Institute. It presents the meeting as both an institutional renewal and a response to the rapid technological transformation of cartography. Taking the National Atlas of Spain—assigned to the Institute by the Spanish government in 1986—as a central case, the proceedings emphasize that contemporary atlases can no longer be conceived solely as printed collections of maps. Computer-assisted production, audiovisual media, databases, automated systems, electronic publishing, hypermedia and dynamic visualization were already creating new ways to compile, update, distribute and use geographic information. The contributions combine reports on atlas projects with methodological and technical discussions. Papers concerning Spain examine the current status and future development of its national atlas, demographic information, differences between the 1965 and contemporary editions, computer-supported cartographic editing, stereoscopic-image generation and landscape representation. Comparative reports describe national or regional atlas work in Mexico, Germany, Chile, Panama, Austria, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary and Sweden, as well as preparations for an atlas of Jalisco. These studies address the adaptation of cartography to territorial realities, synthetic mapping of economic organization, representation of social problems, maintenance of base maps and differing national concepts of atlas design. Thematic seminars focus on editorial organization, production management, cartographic information systems, publication and marketing policies, and the technical challenges of revision and standardization. Particular attention is devoted to databanks and automated map-production environments, including multiple production systems, the Intergraph–Optronics workflow used for the Spanish atlas and emerging forms of electronic map publishing. A major section explores electronic atlases through projects from Bizkaia, the Netherlands, the southern North Sea, Arkansas, Madrid and Canada. These examples illustrate desktop atlas systems, transport modelling, dynamic depictions of urban growth, hypermedia representations of territorial change, global-change encyclopedias and multimedia design philosophies. Educational applications are considered through Finnish national atlases, the new Swiss school atlas and comparisons between traditional and digital atlas structures. Overall, the proceedings portray atlas-making as an interdisciplinary, internationally collaborative activity linking geographic interpretation, editorial judgment, cartographic principles and information technology. The meeting’s multilingual discussions, simultaneous interpretation and advanced presentation facilities reinforced its central message: systematic exchange of knowledge can prevent duplicated effort, promote tested methods and help institutions solve common production and communication problems. The concluding acknowledgements and participant directory further reveal a broad professional network involving national mapping agencies, universities and atlas specialists from Europe and the Americas, united in seeking technologically innovative yet cartographically rigorous forms of geographic communication.

Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases Held at Eötvös Loránd University, Visegrád, Hungary, April 27-29, 1993

This volume documents the joint seminar on electronic atlases held in Visegrád, Hungary, in April 1993 under three commissions of the International Cartographic Association: Education and Training, Map and Spatial Data Use, and National and Regional Atlases. Bringing together researchers and practitioners from Europe, North America, Asia, and other regions, the meeting presented twenty-two papers, software demonstrations, and extensive discussions concerning the production, use, analysis, and teaching of atlases and spatial data in electronic formats. The introductory argument situates cartography at a decisive transition from a discipline centred mainly on finished graphic products to one concerned with an integrated process of collecting, storing, processing, modelling, and communicating spatial information. A map is defined as a reduced, generalized, and organized structural model of information about the real world. Its model character rests on projection or representation, selective reduction of reality, and pragmatics—that is, the subject, audience, time, and purpose for which it is created. Digital cartographic models expand the capacity to store dense and changing information, represent relationships, and support interactive analysis; at the same time, they require renewed definitions of maps and atlases and greater attention to intermediate stages of cartographic information transfer. The contributions examine emerging multimedia, hypermedia, computer-graphics, personal-computer, and CD-ROM technologies in national, regional, thematic, and school atlases. Practical topics include project planning, production tools, database maintenance, common-border data, digital facsimiles, image integration, marketing, and the organization of sustainable atlas workflows. A complementary group of studies considers how electronic maps and atlases are actually used, including applications in policymaking, emergency management, education, children’s learning, and public communication. These studies emphasize that the expansion and diversification of map audiences create new demands for usability, intelligibility, interface design, and instruction in atlas use and multimedia production. The volume also addresses the relationship between scientific precision and cartographic aesthetics. Computer graphics permit systematic variation of symbols, colour combinations, layouts, and other visual parameters, creating opportunities to evaluate design through simulation and psychological or sociological user testing. Although aesthetic responses remain conditioned by experience, culture, habits, and emotion, digital experimentation may support a more rational understanding of visual harmony without reducing design to fixed universal rules. Overall, the proceedings present the electronic atlas as a meeting point of cartographic theory, spatial databases, visualization, multimedia communication, and education. They show that computerization is not merely a new means of producing conventional maps, but a structural transformation affecting cartographic products, production processes, analytical capabilities, user participation, professional training, and the theoretical foundations of the discipline.

Regional, national and international atlases - towards an integrated system

This paper examines the theoretical and practical issues of integrating regional, national, and international atlas cartography. The author argues that modern thematic cartography overemphasizes technical processing while neglecting data quality, result validity, and integration problems, leading to an overly narrow scope. Drawing on the experience of compiling the Atlas of Finland (especially the fifth edition), the paper analyzes challenges of integrating maps at different scales, addressing both technical aspects (e.g., adapting choropleths and symbols) and scholarly consistency (truthful content, logic, comparable structures). The KALSKE computer-assisted system developed in Finland for cataloging and retrieving thematic maps is introduced. The paper also discusses integration at national and international levels, noting problems such as lack of cooperation among cartographic bodies and inconsistent data interpretation. Finally, the author advocates a shift toward problem-oriented thematic cartography, emphasizing integration at both local and international extremes, and calls for enhanced cooperation among cartographers to improve the quality and efficiency of thematic information dissemination.

Wo entstanden die ersten Nationalatlanten?

This article reassesses the origins of the national atlas and challenges the widely repeated claim that Finland’s 1899 Suomen Kartasto was the world’s first example. Defining a national atlas as a coordinated publication of maps, explanatory texts, and supplementary illustrations that systematically represents the natural and social complexity of an entire state, the authors identify two earlier works: the Physikalisch-Statistischer Atlas des Deutschen Reichs (1876–1878) and the Physikalisch-Statistischer Hand-Atlas von Oesterreich-Ungarn (1882–1887). Both combined physical, demographic, and economic mapping and significantly influenced the later Finnish atlas. Drawing on archival and collection research as well as detailed analysis of cartographic objects, the study focuses on the Austrian cartographers Josef Chavanne and Franz Ritter von Le Monnier. Chavanne’s scholarship encompassed climatology, polar research, Africa, and physical mapping; as editor of the Austro-Hungarian atlas, he produced most maps in its physical section. Le Monnier specialized in population statistics, electoral geography, linguistic and ethnic distributions, and constructed most of the atlas’s statistical maps. Their collaboration yielded a scientifically sophisticated and technically advanced thematic atlas that represented a high point of late nineteenth-century Austrian cartography and shaped atlas production in the twentieth century. The findings therefore relocate the emergence of the national atlas to Central Europe in the 1870s and 1880s, rather than Finland in 1899.

Proceedings of ICA National Atlases Commission Meeting, 1990, Beijing

This volume presents the principal outcomes of the 1990 Beijing meeting of the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on National Atlases. More than fifty specialists attended, including Commission members and participants from China, Sweden, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, Spain, India, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and other countries. Thirty-five papers were collected and twenty-six were presented. Their main subjects included national reports on atlas development, electronic atlases, national atlas information systems, and the planning, design, implementation, production, publication, and financing of atlas projects. The proceedings therefore document both international technological innovation and China’s extensive achievements in national, regional, and thematic cartography. China’s national atlas program is shown as the product of long-term comprehensive regional surveys, demographic and resource statistics, remote-sensing applications, ecological observation, and geographic information system development. Its broader purpose is to provide a scientific basis for resource use, environmental protection, and socioeconomic planning. Technical case studies illustrate the transition from conventional compilation toward computer-assisted and data-oriented mapping. Population-density mapping experiments examine the gridding of demographic data, the combined use of accurately located and evenly distributed dots, continuous density classification, and the selection of grid size according to map scale, regional extent, accuracy, and intended use. A microcomputer-based method links settlement population data with elevation zones, aggregates population and area values by grid, and produces classified density maps. Results for the Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan region show a strong concentration of population below 100 meters, where 91.1 percent of the population occupies 67.2 percent of the land and densities generally exceed 500 persons per square kilometer. Another major example concerns the aerial remote-sensing map series for the Tarim River. Using 1983 aerial photography, specialists compiled thirty-eight 1:100,000 maps covering geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation, grassland, poplar resources, land use, desertification, land resources, imagery, and geographic base information. The project emphasizes unified specifications, interpretation keys, classification systems, coincident feature boundaries, cartographic generalization, prototype-map testing, accuracy assessment, and coordination among disciplines. The concluding catalogue of Chinese atlases and map series demonstrates a broad cartographic system encompassing physical geography, agriculture, population, health, history, climate, geology, environmental quality, territorial resources, and regional development. Overall, the volume argues that modern national atlases depend on integrating traditional cartographic principles with computers, remote sensing, and geographic information technologies, while maintaining standardization, data consistency, interdisciplinary cooperation, quality control, and sustained international exchange.

Remarks on the subject of national atlases for developing countries

The paper reviews the necessity for improved map-user orientation in production of National Atlases in developing countries. The low level of knowledge of geography and mathematics causes by the average atlas user difficulties in understanding and use of maps in his office or education-related activities. Not only the signs and colours should be adjusted to the "customs" of each country, but also the scales should be easily understandable, and comparable with other thematic maps in the atlas. The topics presented should be characteristic and relevant to the country in question. Changes of administrative boundaries and urban systems should be marked. The relatively recent gaining of independence by these countries forces us to pay some attention also to historical, geopolitical and geoeconomic factors, and to show the three stages of pre-colonial, colonial and independent periods. Presentation of absolute figures should be made clearer. Geographical name changes, as well as local-geographical definitions or products names, should receive more attention.

Synthetic maps and their using in national atlases

This article examines the definition, classification, and role of synthetic maps in national atlases. A synthetic map provides an integrated characterization of a phenomenon or system by analyzing and synthesizing the properties and interrelations of its elements. Such maps may be classified by subject, scope, form—typology or regionalization—and depth of synthesis. The author reviewed at least 86 national atlases published worldwide between 1960 and 1989 and identified 450 synthetic maps, representing 12.3% of all maps examined. Physical-geographical themes accounted for 69.6% of synthetic maps, especially vegetation, relief, and geology, while population and agriculture predominated among socio-economic themes. Their share generally increased over time, reaching 20.6% in 1985–1989. By presenting extensive knowledge through simplified, legible graphics, synthetic maps improve information accessibility and are becoming indispensable to modern national, regional, and complex atlases.

National atlases: Concepts, content, and experience in development

This article summarizes the experience gained from collaboration between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam in the creation of national atlases for these countries. The scientific concepts embodied in the atlases are analyzed, as well as the interrelationships and scope of topics, the combination of scientific and practical directions, and characteristics of their organization. Translated from: Izvestlya Akademli Nauk SSSR, serlya geograficheskaya, 1988, No. 3, pp. 31-38 by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005. At the current stage of world development and intensification of the global problems of mankind, the role of the system of geographical sciences increases in their recognition and solution. The study of natural resources, population, the economy, settlement, and social and ethnocultural factors requires improvement in traditional geographic and cartographic methods of research and geographic information and the development of new ones. Among the latter, the importance of complex mapping is increasing. Indeed, thematic maps and atlases represent an effective tool in the accumulation, analysis, and multipurpose use of diverse information of different scales. They are necessary in the organization and performance of complex regional research, sectoral and territorial planning, and the management of socioeconomic development. National atlases occupy a special place among complex cartographic works. They comprise an important class of basic scientific works devoted to the systematic characterization of a state (country) and of interaction of internal and external factors of its development. At the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the development of national atlases in conjunction with scientists of the socialist countries has a nearly fortyyear history. In 1965-1970, the first National Atlas of Cuba was prepared by Soviet and Cuban scientists, and received the critical acclaim of the international scientific community (more than 50 reviews) and in 1973 was awarded the State Prize of the USSR. In 1976, jointly with Mongolian scientists and scientists of the Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the scientific concept and schedule of work were determined for The National Atlas of Mongolia, which will appear in print in 1989. In the late 1980s a new National Atlas of Cuba and National Atlas of Vietnam will be published. Scientists of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences are also participating in their creation. Analysis of experience accumulated during creation of the four national atlases, including international collaboration in the design, compilation, and scientific editing of these works is of undoubted scientific and practical interest.

Papers Presented at the First Meeting of the Commission on National Atlases, International Cartographic Association, Stockholm/Kiruna, Sweden, March 11-15, 1989

The visible opening and closing materials belong to a collection of papers submitted to the first meeting of the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on National Atlases, held in Stockholm and Kiruna, Sweden, on 11–15 March 1989. The papers were intended to be edited into proceedings supporting further work on databases for atlas production and maintenance, hardware and software for computer-assisted production, atlases as national geographic information systems, electronic atlases, and distributional and educational issues. The opening national report by Bakker and Ormeling describes the publication of the National Atlas of the Netherlands: its first edition was completed in 1979, followed by a supplement in 1982. The second edition began appearing in separate volumes in 1984 and was scheduled for completion in 1989. Its planned 20 thematic volumes each contain approximately 50 maps, explanatory texts, diagrams, and photographs. Independently compiled and sold, they were designed as a coherent whole organized around population and settlements, human welfare, human resources, natural resources and environment, and physical planning. The report emphasizes societal problems, including housing, employment, demographic change, environmental issues, threats from the sea, and conflicts of interest in planning. Sixteen volumes had appeared, with four scheduled for 1989. The second edition targeted a broader readership and was marketed for upper-secondary education. It was then available only in Dutch; a concise, updated English edition was envisaged for 1990. The closing pages list participants, their affiliations in surveying, statistics, universities, publishing, and related organizations, and their contact details.

National atlases: concept, content, development experience

The article summarizes the experience of cooperation between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam in creating national atlases of these countries. The scientific concept of the atlases, the integrity and coverage of their themes, the combination of fundamental character and practical orientation, structural features, and integration potential are analyzed. The authors propose a working definition of a national atlas as a fundamental comprehensive cartographic work reflecting a special object of mapping—the nation-state as an integral entity in all its systemic complexity and the interaction of internal and external factors and historical prerequisites of its existence and development. The thematic structure of national atlases is examined in detail, noting that they should include main sections such as introductory, general geographical, historical-revolutionary, nature and natural resources, population, settlement, economy, socio-economic development, and social infrastructure. Based on the experience of creating four national atlases (totaling over 1,400 thematic maps), the authors formulate a series of principles for developing such atlases for countries with insufficient geographical and cartographic study, including: breadth of thematic coverage, reflection of the country's resource-ecological, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural specifics, provision of a realistic picture of the degree of comprehensive study, development of a flexible structure, and implementation as a special targeted program. The scale series of the atlases are analyzed. The systemic nature and integration potential of national atlases are emphasized, as they embody the most important features of comprehensive mapping, elevating it to the level of systemic cartography. In conclusion, the authors stress that national atlases can serve as an effective tool for sectoral and regional planning, as a summary of materials on the study of a country's territory, and can accelerate research when the territory is insufficiently studied, promoting the development of national scientific schools and the consolidation of research teams.

National atlases and development

Discussions are taking place in many countries on whether or not a (new) national atlas should be published, and in what form. This article provides general information on the function, content, requirements, structure and format of national atlases, and also on their role in national development. Examples are drawn from the production of the national atlas of The Netherlands. A national atlas has been defined by Salishchev as a basic, multi-subject geographic atlas of a single country, which contains a summary representation of contemporary scientific knowledge of the country in the fields of physical, economic and political geography [3]. It is usually an official or at least state-sponsored publication of all relevant spatial information available for a state's territory. As in all atlases, national atlas editors try to present the contents systematically; the consecutive maps relate to each other and together show the structure of the country. The national atlas concept presupposes a relatively large scale, to show a relatively large degree of detail including the smallest administrative units for which social and economic data are collected. Physical maps should show a detailed synthesis of earth science aspects. The material, usually collected from different sources, must be edited and redrawn to be presented at a similar level of generalization and hierarchical classification—to allow comparison. It is the systematic and similar treatment of the data which enables national atlas users to profit maximally from the concept. Comparison of different themes for the same region and comparison of different regions for the same theme should yield useful conclusions. To these should be added comparisons in time. The development of the national atlas concept was a logical consequence of the information explosion of the 19th century. The general advancement in the natural sciences was coupled with the phenomenal development of statistical data collection, especially in centralized states. Atlases made it possible to view all these spatial data together—to enable a partial or total synthesis to be made. The traditional national atlas can therefore be conceived as a non-computerized geographic information system in its own right: it was the first medium which enabled users to compare, overlay or otherwise combine data, for the first time presented at similar scales at a similar degree of generalization. The national atlas concept first materialized in the atlas of Finland, published in 1899, followed by Canada in 1906. Both countries have remained trend-setters in updating their national atlases (second edition in Finland in 1910, Canada in 1915: fifth editions in both countries in the 1980s) and in establishing standing national atlas organizations for revision and research. The national atlas of Switzerland, published as 96 separate sheets from 1965 to 1978, established new cartographic design standards. In 1956, the International Geographical Union (IGU) established a commission on national atlases to aid in their production and to help bring about standardization. In 1960, this commission produced, under the guidance of Professor K A Salishchev, a survey of their history, an analysis and a guide for their improvement [3]. In 1976, the successful IGU national atlases commission was disbanded and succeeded by the joint ICA (International Cartographic Association)/IGU working group on environmental atlases.

Nationalatlanten als Lernmittel

Atlases are unique educational resources, and national atlases can prove to be excellent tools for assisting in a variety of educational tasks ranging from the preparation of classroom materials to the production of textbooks. National atlases exist for nearly 80 countries throughout the world, and new atlases and new editions are constantly being produced. The size and quality of most national atlases seem to bear a direct relationship to the economic status of the nation which it represents. Western and Eastern Bloc countries have the largest and most sophisticated national atlases, whereas nations from the Third World have smaller, less complex national atlases. However, the thematic content of national atlases varies very little among nations. Economic activity consistently dominates the content of national atlases, followed by an emphasis on the physical environment ? together representing between 50 and 60 per cent of thematic content. They are followed in order of importance by culture, population, regional, introductory material, and miscellaneous material. This consistency in content among national atlases recommends them as comparative, as well as simply descriptive educational resources. Because of the unique characteristics of all atlases, not just national atlases, and the range and amount of information they include, educators need to consider their more frequent utilization in the preparation of class materials, teaching units, and textbooks. Les atlas nationaux se sont av�r�s efficaces dans l'enseignement de la g�ographie de presque 80 pays du monde. De nouvelles �ditions nationales sont constamment produites. Evidemment, la grosseur et la qualit� des atlas d�pendent de la situation �conomique du pays respectif. Tandis que les atlas �dit�s dans les pays occidentaux et dans les Etats du bloc oriental sont volumineux et tr�s d�taill�s, ceux des pays du Tiers Monde sont moins complexes. Cependant, il n'y a pas de diff�rence fondamentale en ce qui concerne leur contenu. Dans tous les atlas nationaux c'est l'�conomie qui tient le premier rang devant la g�ographie physique, les deux domaines constituant 50?60 % du contenu total, suivis de la culture, la population et la g�ographie r�gionale et, enfin, des mat�riaux d'introduction et divers. Cette structure pareille des atlas permet de les employer comme des instruments non seulement descriptifs mais aussi comparatifs. En raison des caract�ristiques communes de tous les atlas et vu la quantit� d'informations qu'ils comportent, un emploi plus fr�quent par les enseignants et par les auteurs de manuels scolaires serait souhaitable.

National atlases: The influence of wealth and political orientation on content

Maps can be used to both represent and distort reality. National governments are one of the most prolific producers of map products and a nation's mapping policy determines what will be mapped, when, and how. In some instances, national governments intentionally modify maps to suit political and strategic goals. National atlases are demonstrations of a nation's character and pride and portray a nation to its own people and the world. This study examines the size, use of language, and subject content of 30 national atlases from among four groups of nations broadly representing distinct political and socioeconomic orientations: the West, the Eastern Bloc, the Independent Third World, and the Colonial Third World. Significant differences exist among the four groups, with the wealthier groups producing larger, more complex atlases in more languages. Subject content varies little among the four groups, suggesting that political orientation and wealth have little influence on the subject content of national atlases. Government mapping policy, in all countries, plays a critical role in the map products available to the public and invites careful study and scrutiny by cartographers and geographers.

Nationalatlas und geographisches Informationssystem - Gedanken zur Weiterentwicklung der Konzeption Nationalatlas

This paper explores the relationship between national atlases and geographic information systems (GIS), reflecting on the further development of the national atlas concept. It first reviews the phenomenon, conception, and development trends of national atlases, highlighting their significant role in science, economy, planning, and education. The paper then analyzes the application of computer-assisted information processing in national atlas compilation, particularly its role and limitations in producing publication originals and design work. It emphasizes that while computer-assisted cartography has advanced in simple map production, it still cannot replace manual work in the high-quality design of complex thematic maps. Finally, the paper introduces the GIS developed by the Institute of Geography and Geoecology (IGG) and illustrates with examples how it supports national atlas compilation, proposing that national atlases should be regarded as a component of GIS and constitute an ongoing task.

Character and efficacy of national atlases, in particular of the atlas DDR

Emphasis is laid on the characterization of national atlases as exact means of information and communication which are visually easy to handle. Besides a true-to-scale location of the features of particular objects and groups of objects national atlases offer the opportunity of obtaining starting points for the registration of spatial structures and functions by means of analysing the positional interconnections of these objects and groups of objects, without anticipating causal connections. The static of the maps, which is often considered as a negative characteristics of national atlases, increases the value and efficacy of this category of atlases instead of decreasing them.

Further Examples of Environmental Maps

At the same time as the increase in the number of automatic phases used for the production of the Soil Map of the Central Region of France, IGN-France cartographers and the pedologists concerned went on to consider the possibility of using the available digital data for other purposes. As a result, it was decided to link pedological data defining the agricultural suitability of the soil with land use data obtained from aerial photographs. The possibility of compiling maps of the potential value of agricultural land, as defined by the July 1980 French Agricultural Orientation Law, modified that research project. It appeared that the digitized pedological data used for producing the Soil Map were a basic element for compiling that agricultural land map and that the auxiliary data, e.g. about land use, slopes, could complete them so as to create a data base in addition to the map itself. It only remained to define the data to be collected and to model their processing. Computer developments consisted of writing the corresponding programme and, in particular, building software in order to assemble zonal thematic data in a data base which could be used for many purposes. Experiments were carried out on the Léré sheet. The anticipated results were obtained and an extremely promising data exploitation potential was revealed.

Mapas y atlas del medio ambiente

This document submitted by Spain discusses the scope, scales, and updating requirements of environmental maps and atlases. The joint International Geographical Union–International Cartographic Association working group provisionally defines the environment as the geographical circumstances affecting the human ecological system. The document describes large-scale maps of environmental dynamics, including pollution and erosion, and argues that difficulties of generalization generally favor single-theme maps at small scales. Such maps should use objective data to identify areas requiring remedial action and should be updated promptly. Environmental atlases may be produced independently, incorporated into national atlases, or cover transboundary regions; maps of different themes should share a scale and topographic base to facilitate comparison. The document also considers organizing publications as replaceable map series, outlines the working group’s atlas reviews, bibliography compilation, and preparation of illustrative chapters, and anticipates possible applications combining remote sensing with automated cartography.

A nemzeti és körzeti (regionális) atlaszok

This paper examines the sources and compilation methods of thematic maps, with a focus on the development, objectives, and content structure of national and regional atlases. It points out that thematic map compilation requires scale transformation and redesign of representation methods based on existing topographic maps, supplemented by literature and historical archival materials. The article traces the evolution from Finland's first national atlas to the atlas compilation efforts of various countries after World War II, with particular attention to Szaliscsev's recommendations, including the ratio of physical to economic maps (1:1 for national atlases, 1:2.5 for regional atlases). Additionally, the paper reviews the development of geological mapping in Hungary, from early surveys by foreign scholars in the 19th century to the establishment of the Hungarian Geological Institute and its systematic mapping work, demonstrating the significant role of geological thematic mapping in serving national economic construction.

A systematic approach to national atlas mapping

This paper proposes a systematic approach to national atlas mapping, focusing on content selection and map design. The approach comprises eight stages, from defining atlas purposes and user needs, through content selection, subject study, sheet content determination, information nature analysis, ideal map design, data collection, to final sheet arrangement. The author illustrates the application of this approach through the preparation of Plate XI-16-S, "Outdoor Recreation," of the Atlas of the Netherlands. The case demonstrates that ideal designs often cannot be fully realized due to data deficiencies, yet systematic adjustments still yield scientifically valuable map sheets. The approach emphasizes the role of ideal design as a benchmark for evaluating data availability, offering a replicable theoretical framework for atlas compilation.

Atlas nacionales, recursos naturales y medio ambiente

This article reviews the evolution of national atlases, from the 1899 Atlas of Finland to the new era of standardization initiated at the 1956 International Geographical Congress in Rio de Janeiro. The author argues that traditional descriptive atlases no longer meet contemporary needs, as nations urgently require modern cartography of natural resources and environmental conditions. The paper analyzes that a national atlas should integrate three functions: geographical information, natural resources, and environmental monitoring. It also discusses map production methods, highlighting the efficiency of automated cartography while emphasizing that geographers must oversee data generalization and final presentation to ensure accuracy and usability. Drawing on personal experience with the National Atlas of Spain, the author concludes that the primary purpose of a national atlas is to provide comprehensive geographical knowledge to decision-makers and the public, and that each atlas should be flexibly designed according to national circumstances.

Automated techniques in support of planning for the national atlas

Planning for a second edition of the National Atlas of the United States is aided by interactive computing and a system of codes and computer programs for displaying schematic layouts of map sheets. This form of computer-assisted cartography is particularly useful when editing a table of contents for an atlas with individual sheets that are to be sold separately. Electronic mail and computer-managed information exchange promote communication among collaborators on the National Atlas Project.

Evolution of National Atlases and an Overview of National Atlases Worldwide

A national atlas is a systematic and comprehensive cartographic work compiled by authoritative national institutions, reflecting a country's natural, social, and economic conditions, with origins dating back to the late 17th century. This paper systematically reviews the development history of national atlases, identifying the Finnish National Atlas of 1899 as the world's earliest recognized national atlas, and outlines the context of competitive national atlas production among European countries during 1950–1970. The main body of the paper presents a detailed tabular inventory of 83 representative national atlases from Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, providing information on each atlas's compiling institution, publication year, scale, format, and annotations. This serves as a valuable reference for cartographic research and national atlas compilation practice.

Examples of Environmental Maps = Exemples de cartes de l’environnement

Published in 1980 by the Joint Working Group on Environmental Atlases of the International Geographical Union and the International Cartographic Association, this volume examines representative methods for mapping environmental phenomena. It seeks to strengthen collaboration between geographers, who define subjects and interpret spatial distributions, and cartographers, who select, generalize, and translate data into graphic form. Rather than prescribing universal standards, the collection presents case studies as practical examples whose methods may be adopted, improved, or deliberately replaced. The introduction defines environment as the geographical circumstances that preserve, improve, or degrade human ecological systems, while warning against reducing environmental cartography to pollution, disaster, and impact assessment alone. A comprehensive approach must also address the structure and functioning of physical environments, temporal change, human influences, and potentially social, cultural, economic, and political conditions. This breadth creates major problems of scope, data volume, scale, generalization, visualization, updating, and comparability, making computer processing increasingly important. The case studies illustrate diverse subjects, geographical settings, data sources, and representational strategies. They include a computer-generated chromium map from the Regional Geochemical Atlas of Shetland; a map of environmental synanthropization in Poland; an assessment of environmental conditions in the Halle–Leipzig region; mapping of suspended-sediment concentrations in Canadian rivers; Hungarian water-quality maps; grid-based representation by the French National Forest Inventory; a terrain-type map for a comparative Chile–California Mediterranean scrub atlas; and a map of fog and cloud in Portugal. Together, these examples show how field sampling, monitoring networks, inventories, classifications, statistical grids, topographic interpretation, and automated cartography can convert specialized observations into regional environmental knowledge. They also demonstrate that mapping choices must reflect the character, precision, and spatial density of the source data. The Portuguese fog-and-cloud study particularly reveals the limitations of environmental mapping. Meteorological observations provide useful qualitative information on annual and daily rhythms, but uneven station coverage, uncertain station locations, observer subjectivity, and the highly local and transient nature of fog impede reliable national quantitative comparison. The map therefore emphasizes local contrasts relevant to planning rather than uniform numerical values. Its interpolation combines trustworthy records, local investigations, direct field knowledge, consultation with experienced residents, and topographic controls. Relief is simplified into major landforms and four elevation classes so that it supports rather than obscures the climatic theme. The map remains provisional, but satellite imagery, systematic remote sensing, and interviews with farmers, shepherds, fishers, drivers, and other knowledgeable observers offer routes for improvement. Overall, the volume presents environmental atlases as evolving analytical systems that require critical awareness of uncertainty, purposeful generalization, continual data revision, interdisciplinary cooperation, and an increasingly close relationship between cartography and computation.

Socioeconomic Maps in Regional and National Atlases

Zu einigen Problemen der Konzeption und kartographischen Gestaltung von Nationalatlanten der Entwicklungsländer

This article examines the conceptual and cartographic problems involved in compiling national atlases for developing countries. The dissolution of the colonial system after the Second World War and the emergence of numerous independent states stimulated atlas production, because national atlases offered an economical and comparatively rapid means of organizing knowledge about territory, environment, natural resources, population and labour. Such atlases can support economic and social planning, assist in training national geographers and cartographers, guide further research and territorial development, and enable developing countries to contribute more fully to international geographical science. Although organizations such as the International Geographical Union and the United Nations promoted the exchange of atlas-making experience, principles derived from countries with mature geodetic, cartographic and statistical systems cannot simply be transferred to states lacking comparable institutions, data and research traditions. National atlases are therefore not neutral collections of facts: their themes and representational methods must reflect each country’s natural conditions, historical development, economic structure, settlement patterns, cultural traditions and political priorities. Particular emphasis should be placed on the inventory and spatial organization of strategically important resources, the natural and socioeconomic foundations of agriculture, and the industries shaping national specialization. Inadequate theoretical research, especially concerning tropical and subtropical environments, may produce competing classifications and mapping concepts; the Cuban national atlas illustrates how alternative scientific interpretations can be represented when no generally accepted system exists. The article argues that atlases should also experiment with integrated representations of natural-technological systems and territorial industrial complexes, although successful precedents remain scarce. Applied maps are especially important. Their legends should be designed for practical use rather than follow exclusively genetic or academic classifications—for example, mineral resources may be grouped by economic use, quality and development potential. Component-based natural regionalization maps should combine inventories with forecasts and recommendations for land and resource use. Because information changes rapidly, loose-leaf publication is preferable to exclusively bound editions: obsolete sheets can be replaced, while several related maps can be compared simultaneously. Traditional atlas conventions likewise require revision. Maps need not always cover the entire state; larger-scale regional maps should portray areas targeted by irrigation, intensive livestock production, specialized cropping or other development programmes. Historical maps should also be included, particularly because developing countries often lack separate historical atlases. Overall, the author calls for a flexible, country-specific approach attentive to both the available level of knowledge and urgent development needs. Solving these conceptual and design problems would enhance the scientific and practical value of national atlases and contribute substantially to the broader advancement of atlas cartography.

Atlas nacionales, recursos naturales y medio ambiente

This article reconsiders the purpose, content, and production of national atlases in light of advances in cartography, computing, and remote sensing, drawing on the author’s experience with the National Atlas of Spain. Traditional geographical atlases were primarily descriptive and often compiled by technical specialists rather than geographers. Although specialists supply essential subject knowledge, effective thematic mapping requires geographical analysis to select reliable sources, process and normalize data, determine appropriate spatial units, and choose suitable forms of representation. Insufficient geographical coordination can therefore produce maps of limited utility and hinder an atlas project. The article argues that modern national atlases should integrate three dimensions: general geographical information, natural resources, and the environment. This broader conception responds to the needs of policymakers, economists, sociologists, technicians, researchers, and citizens who require an accurate understanding of national conditions. Resource atlases are particularly important in countries with limited or unreliable information, but their preparation may demand extensive field surveys and direct verification. Aerial photography, satellite imagery, and image-combination techniques can accelerate the identification of crops, forests, mineral deposits, and other resources; nevertheless, expert interpretation remains indispensable, especially when phenomena such as soils are inferred indirectly. Environmental mapping should cover natural conditions, human-modifiable elements, natural hazards, ordinary economic activities, and physical degradation caused by natural or human action. The greatest challenge lies in mapping pollution, forest degradation, ecological imbalance, and landscape impoverishment because relevant observations are often sparse, unevenly distributed, and insufficiently precise. Such maps should identify both overall states or trends and local areas requiring urgent intervention, and they must be updated frequently because they depict changing conditions. The proposed atlas may also include small-scale topographic maps that provide a synthetic view of relief, hydrography, settlements, administration, and transport while serving as a common geographical reference for thematic layers. Stable phenomena, including geology, soils, and climatology, can be treated as conventional “author maps.” Dynamic phenomena derived from dated numerical or graphic data should instead be designed for automated production and regular revision. Automated cartography can generate qualitative, quantitative, isoline, and statistical maps efficiently, but direct scale reduction may erase spatially small yet significant information. Specialist geographers should therefore supervise thematic generalization and final design. The article concludes that national atlases must be accurate, economical, renewable, and readily legible, functioning not merely as descriptive collections but as practical instruments for planning, environmental protection, public understanding, and national self-representation.

The Purpose and Use of National and Regional Atlases

This paper, based on the proceedings of an international seminar sponsored by the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH) and held in Ottawa in March 1979, systematically explores the purpose, value, uses, and future directions of national and regional atlases. The article begins by noting that despite criticism of national atlases, the production and popularity of world and regional atlases have grown significantly, making this seminar timely. The seminar focused on the utility of national atlases in the electronic age, the application of computer technology, and ways to better serve the user community. Canada was an ideal host due to recent major evaluations and changes in its National Atlas program, as well as new projects such as the Historical Atlas of Canada proposed by the University of Toronto and the Atlas of the North proposed by the Royal Society of Canada. The paper emphasizes that atlases are vital for planners, administrators, researchers, and educators, and reviews Canadian cartographic history, from Juan de la Cosa's 1500 map—the first to depict Canada—to Alexander von Humboldt's rediscovery, highlighting the interdisciplinary and transnational nature of national cartographic studies. The concluding section deeply analyzes the multiple functions of national atlases: supporting natural resource renewal, national wealth utilization, economic planning, and cultural environment planning; while also serving as educational tools and cultural ambassadors, fostering patriotism and international understanding. Drawing on experiences from the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and Hungary, the article notes applications in higher education, commercial publishing, media, political decision-making, market surveys, national prestige display, and information dissemination. However, planners typically require a broader range of map products, and national atlases often lack prognostic maps. The paper discusses the importance of users' map-reading skills (termed 'cartogracy' or 'graphicacy') and suggests enhancing training through education systems, while also bringing atlases closer to the public via exhibitions and user guides. Finally, it raises eight critical questions for future national atlases, including the need for new editions, subject selection, presentation methods, technical specifications, and user targeting, along with cost considerations, emphasizing the challenge of balancing quality, utility, and economy in the digital age.

Atlas nationaux des ressources naturelles

This article provides systematic organizational and technical guidance for the creation of national natural resource atlases, with a particular focus on the needs of developing countries. It first clarifies the core objectives of such atlases, which are to comprehensively summarize and synthesize existing knowledge of a country's natural conditions and resources to serve the correct assessment for economic development, the rational use and protection of natural resources, overall territorial planning, and subsequent in-depth analysis. Structurally, the article recommends that atlases follow a logical sequence from geology, minerals, geomorphology, climate, hydrology, soils, and vegetation to fauna, and divides maps into two categories—fundamental and optional—to accommodate different data availabilities. The article then details the compilation principles and content requirements for various map types, including geological, geomorphological, climatic, hydrological, pedological, vegetation, and faunal maps, while also emphasizing the importance of socio-economic maps as supplementary information. Regarding organization and management, it stresses the necessity of establishing an authoritative editorial committee, outlining its central role in planning, coordinating numerous participating institutions, organizing the author team, and reviewing and accepting author manuscripts. The article describes the pre-publication workflow in detail, from the submission of author manuscripts and their review by the editorial committee to the subsequent cartographic and printing stages. In the cartographic and printing phase, it distinguishes between different types of proofs, such as the line proof before color separation, the line proof after color separation, and the complete proof, explaining their respective purposes and review points to ensure final print quality. Finally, the article underscores the importance of rigorous planning, the formation of a professional editorial and cartographic team, and the provision of necessary equipment to ensure the coordinated and high-quality execution of the atlas project.

Complex Regional Atlases

The visible opening and closing materials of Comprehensive Regional Atlases (Moscow University Press, 1976) describe the monograph’s scope and present examples of medical-service maps. The opening outlines its treatment of the purposes, content, design, compilation, editing, and use of regional comprehensive atlases. Topics include glaciology and permafrost, zoogeography, medical geography, landscapes, assessment of natural conditions, construction, and services for the population, with particular attention to space-derived information and automation. The preface describes comprehensive atlases as repositories of spatial information organized in systematic, comparable forms and as tools for scientific research. It emphasizes the representation of natural and production systems through their components, properties, interrelationships, and functioning. It also records that Moscow University’s Faculty of Geography began work on a series of regional scientific-reference atlases of the USSR and associated theoretical studies in the late 1950s. The closing appendices show map fragments of medical and preventive institutions and mobile medical services. Their legends distinguish institutional types and specialties, total beds by settlement, beds per thousand inhabitants by medical district, settlements without medical institutions, emergency and consultation stations’ call volumes and service frequencies, and mobile medical facilities. The stated map scales are 1:2,500,000 and 1:6,000,000, respectively. This summary is confined to the visible materials and does not address arguments in the omitted text or conclusions of the whole book.

Die kartographische Darstellung von Entwicklungslandern in National- und Regionalatlanten

This article examines the cartographic representation of developing countries in national and regional atlases. The author points out that in highly developed industrial states, national and regional atlases have become indispensable tools for understanding the core factors shaping the regional structures of nature, economy, and society. However, atlases of developing countries differ fundamentally in their overall design due to their distinctly different underlying problems. The article emphasizes that atlases are more than just data repositories; they are visual expressions revealing potential interrelationships within a specific territorial section. Since societal preferences determine the selection of themes and their scale-bound depth of detail, the compilation and publication of a national atlas precludes it from being a mere neutralist collection of facts. The author critically reviews existing atlases, noting that they select materials based on principles of regionalist ideography rather than on system interconnections, particularly suspected correlations of system variables. The latter is a prerequisite for supplementing analytical maps with those providing crucial insights into territorial-economic interrelations, understanding natural complexes in resource assessment, and urbanization. The article further discusses the specific characteristics of developing countries, such as their tropical or subtropical natural character, colonial history, and varying intensity of connections with the capitalist world market or socialist countries, which necessitate different methodological approaches to cartographic content determination. Using agricultural spaces as an example, the author illustrates how maps can highlight elements vital for the development of economically and culturally backward regions, including changes in physical structure, population growth relative to economic development, social differentiation, and cultivation systems. The article also addresses the destructive impact of slash-and-burn agriculture and its alternatives, such as the agroforestry combination proposed by Hesmer, noting that experiences from developed countries cannot be transferred without significant corrections. Finally, the author argues that through appropriate cartographic methods, even on smaller-scale maps, it is possible not only to characterize larger areas of relief, soil, climate, etc., but also to highlight cartographically the substantive features of concrete or potential function within the framework of the national economic development of developing countries.

Thematic atlases

This article surveys the worldwide development, classification, purposes, and publication trends of thematic atlases from the late nineteenth century to the mid-1970s, with particular attention to national, regional, planning, informational, and specialized atlases. Its central point of departure is K. A. Salishtchev’s 1956 proposal to the International Geographical Union that every country prepare a comprehensive national atlas portraying its physical and economic characteristics. The proposal reflected a broader transformation of geography from a predominantly descriptive discipline into one concerned with the spatial organization of productive forces, the rational use of natural resources, and the formulation of regional development policy. A national atlas was therefore conceived as a “mapped national inventory” integrating information on environment, population, society, and economy. International coordination was intended to analyze existing atlases, identify common scientific problems, develop model contents, and recommend compatible projections, scales, legends, and representational methods. It was later extended to regional atlases, especially for large and internally diverse countries. The article traces national-atlas production from Finland’s pioneering works, initially associated with national identity and independence, through atlases created for boundary justification, political communication, and state propaganda, to the postwar expansion of atlases designed primarily for economic planning, higher education, and public information. By approximately 1975, forty countries had published a national atlas or part of one, while another twenty-four had issued comparable comprehensive thematic works. Most planning-oriented atlases sought to support coordinated economic development, but recurring problems included prolonged publication of multivolume or serial editions, uneven revision of outdated data, and restricted international circulation caused by language or writing systems. Regional atlas production—concentrated especially in the United States, the Soviet Union, and a limited number of developed countries—served more specific purposes: preparing development programs, supplying evidence for major investments, assessing regional resources and constraints, and supporting administrative or educational needs. Examples from France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and India demonstrate the importance of standardized dates, uniform territorial units, rapid processing, and timely dissemination. They also show that traditional cartographic methods may require so long that statistical information loses practical value before publication. Beyond comprehensive national and regional works, the study catalogs specialized atlases devoted to climate, agriculture, geology, hydrography, soils, vegetation, forests, industry, energy, population, settlement, education, dialects, ethnography, medical geography, history, and archaeology. Historical sections, though initially recommended for national atlases, were often omitted because of political sensitivities or weak relevance to immediate planning and subsequently appeared as separate publications. Overall, thematic atlases are presented both as major instruments for synthesizing, comparing, and visualizing geographical knowledge and as practical infrastructure for resource inventories, spatial planning, public administration, education, and national self-representation. Their continued usefulness depends on international standardization, efficient production, comparable cartographic conventions, and regular updating.

Besprechungen: National Atlases

This review examines the first four volumes of Cartographica: Monographs on Cartography, a Canadian series supplementing The Canadian Cartographer. The volumes address seventeenth-century maps of Newfoundland, the influence of map users on cartographic design, Russian maps and atlases as historical sources, and the history and standardization of national atlases. Drawing on historical map examples, symposium papers, methodological studies, and translated scholarship, they demonstrate the expansion of geographical knowledge, the importance of adapting maps to users with differing educational and professional backgrounds, and the value of cartographic materials as historical evidence. Particular praise is given to the symposium volume for its user-oriented research and to the national-atlas handbook for its enduring guidance on mathematical foundations, geographic content, and design. Overall, the series is judged a valuable contribution to Canadian cartography with substantial international relevance.

National atlases

The concept of national atlas is reviewed in light of experience gained since such a specific category of cartographic production was first suggested in 1958 by K. A. Salishchev. On the basis of analysis of the structure and content of 14 atlases, a set of definitions and criteria is drawn up that would qualify an atlas as truly national. Aside from being limited to the territory of a single country, such an atlas should devote roughly 70 to 85 percent of its total space to maps of the physical environment, population and ecomnomy. The atlas content should be on a scholarly level reflecting the state of the art, for use principally as an aid in the evaluation of territory, of the production base and of manpower resources for purposes of economic and social planning. Among the principal map sections, greater weight given to economic maps is justified in highly developed, industrial countries, while more attention to the physical base tends to be given in countries where agriculture is still the basis of the nation's economy. The atlases of Colombia and Kenya devote less than 50 percent of their space to environment, population and economy and therefore would not qualify. Neither, in the author's view, does the atlas of Salvador, which allocates 68 percent of space to agriculture and only 12 percent to the physical base.

On the Unification of National Atlases

This article re-examines the feasibility and proper scope of unifying national atlases in light of the rapid postwar expansion of atlas production and the experience accumulated by international cartography. The unification agenda arose from the expectation that national atlases could support comparative geographical research and provide reliable source material for international thematic maps. Yet national atlases primarily serve domestic economic, social, scientific, and cultural needs. Their contents and methods therefore reflect differences in national conditions, territorial size, levels of geographical knowledge, statistical systems, scholarly traditions, and practical priorities. The central problem is consequently how far national and international purposes can be reconciled within a single cartographic work. The article argues that certain formal and technical features are relatively amenable to standardization, including map projections, scales, coordinate grids, atlas formats, printing conventions, and basic graphic methods such as colors, areas, dots, and flow lines. A broadly comparable thematic structure may also be possible; the Soviet five-part model—nature, population, economy, culture, and political-administrative organization—is presented as useful, with the National Atlas of Cuba demonstrating that cultural maps are indispensable for addressing national development. By contrast, the unification of legends, classifications, and mapping indicators is highly problematic. Large-scale national maps permit detailed classifications shaped by national or regional scientific schools, which cannot easily be reconciled. Soil mapping in Cuba illustrates this difficulty: attempts to combine Russian genetic soil science with American soil-series principles required multiple versions of the legend and still failed to achieve full consistency, despite abundant field observations and source materials. Comparability is likewise constrained by unequal territorial knowledge; thematic mapping in developing countries may even advance ahead of adequate general geographic base mapping. Similar obstacles occur in socioeconomic cartography. Industrial centers, agriculture, and livestock can be represented through different physical, labor, monetary, technical, or social indicators, each selected according to country-specific data and objectives. Statistical dates also differ among atlases, further limiting comparison. The article therefore rejects comprehensive top-down standardization of national atlases, especially for socioeconomic subjects whose purpose is to reveal national specificity. It proposes reversing the conventional relationship between national atlases and international maps. Rather than first standardizing national atlases so that they can supply international products, international thematic maps covering continents or the world should become the main arena for developing integrated classifications, comparable indicators, and unified legends. Because their small scales require high-level taxonomic categories, such maps naturally synthesize different national approaches. Their results may subsequently inform national atlases, although adoption must remain the sovereign choice of each country. International scientific cooperation and exchange of experience can thus improve atlas quality and promote partial—not absolute—unification while preserving the national functions and intellectual diversity of cartography.

Reviews: National atlases

This review article examines three national or regional atlases. First, it discusses the English translation of National Atlases, a seminal work by the International Geographical Union's Commission on National and Regional Atlases, which systematically reviews the history of national atlases up to 1960 and offers detailed recommendations on cartographic methods, scale, projection, and content organization. Second, it critiques the Metrolina Atlas, which focuses on the urban region centered on Charlotte, North Carolina, covering twelve counties; the reviewer notes shortcomings in its treatment of regional interconnections, agricultural analysis, and data granularity. Third, it evaluates Character of a Conurbation: A Computer Atlas of Birmingham and The Black Country, which employed computer-generated mapping, reflecting contemporary technological advances. Together, these reviews illuminate the practices, technological developments, and scholarly standards of atlas compilation in the mid-to-late 20th century.

The evolving nature of national and regional atlases

This paper examines the evolving nature of national and regional atlases. It begins by tracing the development of national atlases from early simple location maps to comprehensive scientific compilations in the 19th century, and discusses criteria for identifying such atlases. The paper then analyzes the shifting functions of national atlases, from serving as scientific repositories to becoming tools for state planning, leading to the rise of regional atlases with an increasing emphasis on socio-economic maps. It also highlights the pedagogical functions of atlases and their role as indicators of future research directions. The author concludes that national and regional atlases are often indistinguishable in purpose and use, falling into four broad categories: scientific repositories, state planning and development, pedagogical functions, and indicators of future geographical and cartographical research.

Book reviews: National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization

This is a review of the book *National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization*, edited by G. Fremlin and L. M. Sebert. Originally published in French in 1960 by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the work was later translated and edited into English. The review notes that the national atlas as a new genre began with the *Atlas of Finland* in 1899 and proliferated between the world wars due to the emergence of new countries in Eastern Europe. The book is organized into three sections: historical analysis, mathematical basis, and subject matter and contents, concluding with a list of recommended map topics. The reviewer praises the work as exhaustive and a basic reference, but criticizes the twelve-year delay in English publication and the incomplete translation of some tables and figures. Overall, the book is deemed valuable for historians of cartography.

Cartographical survey: National Atlases, Cartographica Monograph No. 4

This review discusses the monograph "National Atlases" (Cartographica Monograph No. 4), edited by G. Fremlin and L. M. Sebert, published by York University, Toronto, in 1972. It notes that the book, based on the 1960 French edition edited by Professor K. A. S. Salichtchev, serves as an authoritative guide in the field of national atlases. The new edition offers clearer and more helpful sections on mathematical foundations and content, proving valuable to prospective atlas publishers. However, despite comprehensive surveys, few countries have produced national atlases. The author emphasizes that while standardization in cartography is desirable, it should not suppress individual initiative, as the art of cartography must remain a personal endeavor.

National atlas (toward a definition of the concept)

This article examines the evolution of the concept of the “national atlas” and seeks to establish more precise criteria for identifying this distinctive type of cartographic publication. Its argument is based on a comparative analysis of the thematic structures of fourteen comprehensive atlases of individual countries that have commonly been classified as national atlases. The author first reviews definitions proposed in 1958, 1960, and 1966. Although these definitions emphasize territorial correspondence with state boundaries, comprehensiveness, scientific authority, national importance, and prestige, they do not adequately distinguish genuinely national works from educational or popular atlases, narrowly sectoral compilations, or publications shaped by colonial interests. The institutional origin of an atlas is likewise insufficient as a criterion: foreign participation may impose metropolitan priorities, but international cooperation can also support national goals. The National Atlas of Cuba is presented as a positive example in which cooperation advanced geographical research, cartographic production, and the training of national specialists. The thematic comparison reveals a notable structural regularity: in most of the atlases studied, maps of natural conditions and resources, population, and the economy account for approximately 70–85 percent of all maps. These themes therefore constitute the substantive core of a national atlas, while introductory, political-administrative, social, cultural, and historical sections generally play supplementary roles. On this basis, the atlases of Colombia and Kenya are questioned because less than half of their maps address the central themes, while the Atlas of El Salvador is judged structurally unbalanced by its overwhelming concentration on commercially oriented agriculture and limited treatment of the natural environment. The Tanganyika atlas meets the quantitative ratio but remains colonial in its selection and representation of social information, demonstrating that interpretation and ideological orientation matter as much as formal structure. The Australian publication is more accurately characterized as a resource atlas. The author consequently defines a national atlas as a comprehensive scientific geographical atlas covering a country within its state boundaries and presenting the contemporary state of knowledge and development of its territory, population, resources, and economy. Four principal criteria are proposed: national territorial coverage; comprehensive organization with priority given to nature, population, and economy; a scientific level consistent with current knowledge; and a scientific-applied function supporting territorial assessment, use of natural and labor resources, organization of productive forces, and national socioeconomic development. A national atlas should thus be understood not merely as a repository of knowledge or an emblem of prestige, but as an explanatory instrument that communicates geographical ideas and assists in solving major national problems. Clarifying the concept is especially important for developing countries seeking to overcome colonial cartographic traditions and employ modern science and technology in autonomous territorial research, resource use, and social, economic, and cultural progress.

The national atlas and its place in cartography: A comment

This comment examines the role of the national atlas in cartography and its implications for school atlases and geographical education. The author highlights the national atlas as a comprehensive representation of a country's geographical knowledge, setting high cartographic standards and serving as a cultural ambassador. The paper discusses the challenges of adapting national atlas content for school use, emphasizing the need for collaboration with educators. It also questions the suitability of continental sub-regional atlases as school counterparts. Finally, the author challenges the notion that the world atlas is obsolete, arguing its continued value in providing a global framework and fostering spatial concepts.

Methods for Creating Comprehensive Regional Atlases of the USSR. Maps of Nature

Methods for Creating Comprehensive Regional Atlases of the USSR: Maps of Nature is a collection prepared at Moscow State University. The available opening and closing materials address the organization and methods of producing natural-environment maps for comprehensive scientific-reference atlases, together with issues in presenting their applied aspects. The preface situates the collection in thematic mapping research and regional atlas production, emphasizing new or insufficiently developed map types. The opening recommends a single editorial organization to coordinate participating institutions, specifies the responsibilities of the editorial board, chief editor, thematic editors, authors, and cartographic enterprise, and distinguishes preparatory work, authorial map preparation, compilation, publication preparation, and printing. Scale, projection, and layout should reflect territorial size and shape, thematic complexity, and intended use. Scales related by simple multiples facilitate comparison, while economically important areas may warrant larger-scale maps. The closing discussion explains that synthetic maps can incorporate analytical data to supplement thematic descriptions and support evaluation. Small-scale generalization, however, processes original information and entails some loss of objectivity; larger-scale sources should therefore be used, and analytical indicators should remain connected to the map’s principal content. The author criticizes the engineering-geological conditions map in the Atlas of Transbaikalia (1967) for failing to establish these connections effectively, thereby limiting its evaluative usefulness. Applied maps may combine diverse phenomena according to practical objectives, but their representation should support coherent interpretation and practical judgments. The closing also identifies a lag in specific methodological development relative to the expansion of applied mapping.

National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization

This monograph provides a comprehensive review of the history, analysis, and ways to improvement and standardization of national atlases. Although the concept of national atlases can be traced back to the 18th century, their true development began in the late 19th century, with the Atlas of Finland (1899) serving as the first exemplar. The article identifies three prerequisites for the creation of national atlases: the extension of topographical surveys, advancements in natural sciences, and the accumulation of statistical data. These atlases not only provide a complete scientific picture of a country's physical nature, population, economy, and cultural development but also attract the interest and support of the scientific community. The article analyzes the development of national atlases during and after the two World Wars, with particular attention to the cases of the Atlas of France and the National Atlas of India. The Atlas of France (published 1931-1946) represents typical characteristics of national atlases in capitalist countries, while the National Atlas of India (published 1957) demonstrates how newly independent nations utilized atlases to support national development planning. The article also discusses various challenges faced during the compilation of national atlases, including data collection, map design, printing quality, and publication timelines, and proposes ways for improvement and standardization. Through comparative analysis of different national atlases, the article emphasizes their significant value in displaying national geographical characteristics, promoting scientific research, and supporting national decision-making.

The national atlas and its place in cartography

This paper examines the role of national atlases in cartography. Traditionally, atlases served as compendiums of topographical knowledge, but over the past two decades, driven by the needs of rapidly developing countries, they have evolved to incorporate economic and social data against a topographical backdrop. This shift has made world atlases increasingly impractical due to inconsistent national statistics, thereby promoting the rise of national atlases. Concurrently, changes in geography education, emphasizing in-depth study of one's own country, have heightened the demand for simplified national atlases for schools. Despite publishers' preference for universally marketable reference books, the author argues that the trend, particularly in Southern Africa, points toward national reference books combining maps with textual and tabular data, tailored to educational levels and extending to university and planning needs.

Nasjonalatlas

This article reviews the development, purposes, and publication formats of modern national atlases and uses international experience to formulate recommendations for a future Norwegian national atlas. National atlases are conceived as comprehensive collections of predominantly thematic maps describing a country’s natural and cultural conditions; beyond research and education, they can provide essential evidence for rational national planning. Drawing on comparisons among more than twenty atlases, including those of Finland, Sweden, Britain, France, Canada, and several smaller European states, the study examines page dimensions, map scales, binding systems, publication schedules, and explanatory texts. It shows that territorial size and shape strongly determine cartographic design. Small countries can generally be represented at relatively large scales, whereas elongated countries require subdivision, page rotation, or reduced scales. Modern reproduction methods nevertheless allow smaller-scale maps to convey increasingly nuanced information. Loose-leaf publication over several years offers a major advantage over a single bound volume because stable physical-geographical sheets can appear early while cultural and demographic maps can incorporate recent statistics; this flexibility is particularly valuable for planning, although secure storage and organization remain necessary. The article also emphasizes that source documentation, contributor credits, interpretive commentary, illustrations, and multilingual explanations substantially increase scientific and international utility. Because Norway lacks both national and regional atlases and has an unusually elongated form, the author recommends drawing chiefly on Swedish, Finnish, and British practice: a principal scale of 1:2,000,000, supplemented by divided maps at 1:1,500,000 and whole-country maps at 1:3,000,000. Norway should prioritize a national atlas and begin production once financing is secured.

Interdependence of national and regional atlases

This paper examines the similarities and differences between national and regional atlases. National atlases, confined to national boundaries, offer comprehensive thematic map collections, emphasize complex thematic presentation, and serve as historical documents of a given period. Regional atlases, whose delimitation is influenced by physiographic, economic, or administrative factors, exhibit more flexible theme selection, focus on analytical maps, and represent not only current natural and social patterns but also development potentials. Despite variations in scale and content structure, the two are not substitutes but complementary, jointly serving geographical synthesis and regional planning purposes.

Interdependence of national and regional atlases

The article examines the interdependence, functional distinctions, and developmental tendencies of national and regional atlases. The rapid expansion of comprehensive atlas production after the Second World War resulted from advances across the geosciences, closer cooperation between cartography and specialized disciplines, growing demands for the rational use of natural resources and territorial organization, and the activities of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases. Both atlas types are understood not as miscellaneous collections of thematic maps but as purposefully organized cartographic systems in which coordinated subjects, symbols, scales, and principles of generalization allow individual maps to acquire greater scientific and practical value. Their shared mission is twofold: to synthesize knowledge of physical and socioeconomic conditions and processes, and to support education, resource assessment, economic management, territorial planning, and development. Consequently, the conventional opposition between national atlases as purely scientific works and regional atlases as merely practical planning instruments is rejected; each combines theory and application, although their relative emphasis may differ. The main differences arise from the character of the territory represented, the thematic system adopted, and the purposes governing compilation. A national atlas portrays the entire state as a defined socioeconomic unit. It generally applies a relatively uniform depth of treatment and a higher degree of cartographic generalization across the national territory, thereby presenting an integrated national picture and facilitating comparison with other countries. A regional atlas may cover an administrative unit, a physical-geographical region, an economically important area, or a territory designated for coordinated development. Its boundaries, thematic priorities, map scales, and level of detail are therefore more flexible. Regional works can emphasize distinctive local conditions, internal contrasts, interregional relations, resources, and concrete development problems, and different subjects within one atlas may receive unequal treatment according to regional needs. The article further classifies atlases by the motivations behind their production. The first group comprises comprehensive geographical atlases intended primarily to present a balanced scientific synthesis. The second consists of resource atlases that analyze physical and socioeconomic assets in detail and encourage their fuller use, particularly in developing countries or resource-rich regions. The third includes planning atlases designed to guide the long-term territorial distribution of productive forces, infrastructure, architecture, and regional development. The fourth contains specialized agricultural, industrial, forestry, statistical, census, commercial, and marketing atlases. Most national atlases belong to the first group, with a smaller share in the resource category, whereas regional atlases occur mainly among planning and resource works; nevertheless, these categories express tendencies rather than rigid boundaries. The central conclusion is that national and regional atlases are complementary rather than interchangeable. A national atlas supplies a coherent, uniformly generalized framework for the country as a whole, while regional atlas systems add detailed and selectively intensified treatment of local characteristics. International harmonization of national-atlas programmes, symbols, and generalization principles promotes comparison among countries, continents, and the world. Conversely, a coordinated series of regional atlases enables detailed comparison among regions and contributes to a more rational spatial organization of economic life.

Karten des Verkehrs und des Fremdenverkehrs in Nationalatlanten

Maps of transport and tourism in 63 national atlases were analyzed in preparation for the "Atlas of the GDR," which is currently being compiled. The atlases are divided into six groups, which are described and evaluated. As a result of the analysis, the degree of complexity is determined as an index and criterion for the comparative evaluation of the traffic maps in the individual national atlases. This index is based on the application of thirteen possible methods for the cartographic representation of the accessibility of a region. The ranking of the atlases in relation to their degree of complexity is discussed, illustrated in a map, and discussed in the text. Finally, suggestions are made for further possibilities of a comparative evaluation of national atlases with regard to their maps of traffic and tourism.

Nemzeti és regionális atlaszok

This article examines the emergence, functions, and interrelationship of complex national and regional atlases within the rapid postwar development of atlas cartography. Such atlases are not mere collections of thematic maps; rather, they are coordinated cartographic systems designed to synthesize the natural environment and socioeconomic life of a country or region. Their development reflects both advances in geography and cartography and growing practical demand for the rational use of natural resources, spatial organization of production, regional planning, and economic administration. The establishment of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases in 1956 promoted this trend by encouraging international coordination of atlas themes, legends, representation methods, and principles of generalization. Drawing on international examples and Hungarian experience, including the National Atlas of Hungary and the planned regional atlas series, the authors compare the two atlas types according to three principal criteria: the character of the territory represented, the thematic structure, and the purpose of publication. A national atlas covers the clearly delimited territory of a sovereign state and generally treats the whole country with relatively uniform thematic depth. It emphasizes scientific synthesis, records the achievements of geographic disciplines, and facilitates comparison between countries. A regional atlas may cover an administrative unit, economic district, planning region, natural region, or development area whose boundaries are less self-evident. Its contents and level of detail therefore depend more strongly on local characteristics, development problems, and planning objectives. Although scientific considerations tend to predominate in national atlases and practical concerns in regional atlases, the authors reject a rigid separation between theory and application: both types combine scientific analysis with practical utility in different proportions. The article also classifies atlases by their primary motivation. One group chiefly presents a country’s or region’s geography through comprehensive scientific synthesis; another focuses on resources and seeks to encourage their assessment and exploitation, especially in developing countries and resource-rich territories; a third consists of planning atlases intended to support the rational territorial distribution of productive forces and spatial development; and a fourth includes specialized thematic, statistical, commercial, and marketing atlases. These categories overlap and express tendencies rather than fixed boundaries. The central conclusion is that national atlases and nationwide systems of regional atlases are neither identical nor interchangeable. National atlases offer standardized, generalized, and internationally comparable information for the country as a whole, whereas regional atlases provide greater detail and highlight local conditions, resources, disparities, and development priorities. Together they form complementary instruments of geographic knowledge, cartographic synthesis, resource evaluation, and rational territorial planning.

Socio-Economic Maps in Comprehensive Regional Atlases

This monograph develops a systematic framework for designing the socio-economic sections of comprehensive regional scientific-reference atlases. Drawing on Soviet atlas practice, international experience, and discussions at the 1966 conference on comprehensive atlases, it treats atlas compilation as both cartographic production and geographical research. The central problem is how to reconcile thematic completeness with manageable physical size. Scientific differentiation continually generates new mapping subjects, while interdisciplinary synthesis, diverse practical purposes, and the need to represent interactions between society and nature further expand atlas content. The authors therefore advocate purposeful selection, coordination, and synthesis rather than a mechanical accumulation of specialized maps. Comprehensive character should be achieved through compatible scales, classifications, indicators, time references, and territorial units, as well as through explicit representation of causal, functional, and spatial relationships. A graphical model of the Kustanay region illustrates how four interrelated systems—natural conditions and resources, productive forces, territorial combinations of economic branches, and science, education, and services—can guide atlas structure and coordinate physical and socio-economic maps. Comparing published atlases, the study distinguishes Western European atlases oriented mainly toward regional planning from Soviet scientific-reference atlases designed for multiple uses, while identifying a shared trend toward stronger practical relevance and expanded socio-economic coverage. For medium-sized atlases, it recommends approximate allocations of 15 percent to population and labour resources, 25 percent to power engineering, industry, and construction, 25 percent to agriculture, 12 percent to transport and economic relations, and 18 percent to science, education, and services, with adjustments for regional particularities. Detailed recommendations cover demographic dynamics, settlement and labour; fuel and energy resources, industrial structure, and energy-production cycles; construction and building materials; land resources, agricultural enterprises, mechanization, specialization, land use, and farming systems; transport networks, flows, accessibility, and interregional connections; and the spatial organization of research, education, culture, commerce, and everyday services. General economic maps should integrate these materials through economic regionalization and reveal territorial disparities in development. Methodologically, the book calls for combining narrowly specialized analytical maps with synthetic typological maps, incorporating relevant environmental factors, using economic indicators such as profitability, and avoiding rigid boundaries among thematic sections. It also stresses standardization for comparison across atlases while preserving regional individuality. Finally, it identifies priorities for future work: periodic revision of ageing maps, effective integration of maps and explanatory text, rapid production of simplified supplementary maps, and development of prognostic cartography. Together, these principles aim to increase the scientific coherence, practical utility, comparability, and long-term value of comprehensive regional atlases.

Exhibition of national and regional atlases

At the Exhibition of National and Regional Atlases, Congress members examined 84 atlases from 39 countries, assembled to stimulate comparisons of thematic and technical presentation. The exhibits included previews of unpublished atlases from Czechoslovakia, Indonesia, Switzerland, the USA, and a regional atlas from Poland, alongside new map series for Australia and India. Newly completed atlases from Great Britain, Israel, France, the USA, and the USSR were shown for the first time. Countries like Cameroon, Morocco, and the Netherlands displayed published sections of their serial national atlas projects. The exhibition illustrated the work of the National Atlases Commission, where experimentation and systematization must accompany rapid production. Despite criticisms of loose-leaf serial atlases, their value was evident, as many displayed atlases could not have been completed otherwise. The wide range of themes rekindled discussions on suitable topics for national and regional atlases. Organizers expressed deep gratitude to national committees, publishers, and libraries for providing the expensive exhibits.

National atlases as indicators of scientific and economic change

Nicholson compares Canada’s national atlases of 1906, 1915 and 1957 through their coverage, presentation, map sequence and language, treating the series as a record of changing geographical knowledge, cartographic practice and national development. The first two atlases emphasized physical geography, transportation and population; expanded city mapping in 1915 reflected urban growth. The 1957 atlas added detailed Arctic coverage, glaciers, soils, flora and fauna, and substantially expanded the mapping of economic activity. Separate statistical sheets declined from 53 percent of the 1906 volume to 34 percent in 1915 and disappeared in 1957. Nicholson connects increasingly precise spatial information to survey work, aerial photography and improved collection and analysis of economic and social data. He praises advances in topographic detail, colour and printing, while criticizing statistical maps that imply abrupt changes at administrative boundaries; he finds the 1957 population-density map more realistic. The editions share a broadly similar map sequence, whose theoretical basis he considers insufficiently examined. The earlier atlases appeared only in English; the decision to produce English and French volumes for the 1957 atlas reflected, in his view, Canada’s developing biculturalism. He argues that successive national atlases can guide geographical research and assess progress, and that census-like institutional status would support continuity of staff and concepts between editions.

Regional Atlases: Tendencies of Development Subject Matters of the Maps on Natural Conditions and Resources

This study, prepared under the auspices of the International Geographical Union Commission on National Atlases, reviews the historical evolution and contemporary development of integrated regional atlases and proposes principles for improving maps of natural conditions and resources. Responding to the rapid expansion of regional atlas production and to growing international interest in cartography as an instrument of economic planning, the work draws on Soviet compilation experience while comparing representative atlases from the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, France, the United States, Canada, and the USSR. It traces regional atlases from early practical publications, such as the 1914 Atlas of Asiatic Russia, through the comprehensive atlases produced during the 1930s and later specialized or multipurpose projects. These examples show that regional atlases arose in response to administrative reorganization, settlement, resource exploitation, economic development, transportation planning, and the need to overcome regional disparities. The study stresses their particular value for less-developed territories, where systematic cartographic information can support the assessment, planning, and management of natural and economic potential. A major section develops a structured program for representing natural conditions and resources. It covers introductory reference maps; the Earth’s crust and mineral wealth; geophysical conditions; relief; climate; surface waters; congelation and modern glaciation; soils and land resources; vegetation; wildlife; and natural regionalization and integrated evaluation. Maps should progress from analytical representations of individual phenomena to synthetic and evaluative products that reveal relationships, practical significance, and suitability for economic use. The atlas is therefore conceived not merely as a collection of independent maps but as an internally coherent system serving scientific analysis and applied decision-making. To ensure unity, comparability, and timely production, the study advocates parallel compilation of thematic maps rather than a rigid sequential workflow, while requiring relief to be represented accurately at an early stage. Coordination must continue throughout program design, editing, and compilation. Boundaries and spatial units on geological, geomorphological, soil, vegetation, hydrological, and other maps should be reconciled through analysis of causal relationships and observable terrain features, without artificially forcing distinct phenomena into identical outlines. Particular care is required for gradual transitions, dispersed distributions, displaced boundaries, nested units, and areas where units taper or interpenetrate. Topographic maps and aerial photographs can assist localization when relationships with relief are strong; where they are weak, cartographers should emphasize broad distributional regularities rather than spurious detail. Overall, the work presents regional atlases as integrated scientific and planning instruments and offers experience-based guidance—not universally binding prescriptions—for their subject structure, editorial organization, cartographic consistency, and practical evaluation of regional natural resources.

Un projet d'atlas national abrégé

In countries where the cartographic base is imprecise and geographical and statistical studies are limited, the task of producing a national atlas comparable to those of other nations faces great difficulties. However, there is always a need for a minimum of geographical data for all countries. This paper therefore proposes a relatively feasible abbreviated atlas, comprising fourteen plates, which are examined in detail. Except for climatology and agricultural production plates, which would include several maps, the whole country would be represented on a single map at the largest possible scale, grouping data with different colors. For instance, a hydrography map would integrate the river network, basins, reservoirs, irrigation zones, and flood-prone areas; an energy map would concentrate hydroelectric and thermal plants, coal mines, oil fields, power lines, and petroleum pipelines, with the most appropriate hierarchy. All plates are designed to include only data that governments or geographical centers can easily obtain.

Plenary Session of the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union, 7-12 September, 1962, Budapest

This volume records the plenary session of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases, held in Budapest from 7 to 12 September 1962, together with the associated Exhibition of National Atlases. Bringing together commission members, corresponding members, cartographers, geographers, government officials, and atlas editors from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, the meeting reviewed the rapid expansion of national and regional atlas production since the Commission’s establishment in 1956. The opening addresses emphasize that national atlases had become more than specialized cartographic publications: they were increasingly important instruments for scientific research, economic planning, resource assessment, education, public administration, and international understanding. Reports from the United States, Austria, India, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Morocco, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Spain, and Great Britain describe atlases already published or under preparation, their institutional organization, editorial principles, thematic scope, source materials, scales, production methods, and progress. Comparative contributions also examine state, provincial, and regional atlases in the United States, Canada, and the Federal Republic of Germany. Across these case studies, the proceedings identify major methodological issues: the selection and coordination of physical, demographic, economic, and cultural themes; the geographical conception of industrial maps; the representation of population and industry; the harmonization of legends and symbols; procedures for revision and continuous updating; and the relationship between comprehensive national atlases and more detailed regional works. Particular attention is given to contemporary technological change, including the transition from manual compilation to automatic plotting of thematic maps, as well as to the need for reliable statistics, comparable classifications, and close cooperation among geographers, cartographers, statistical agencies, academies, and state surveying organizations. Broader discussions assess current trends in atlas development, the future responsibilities of the Commission, the preparation of a revised international bibliography of national atlases, and the significance of the International 1:1,000,000 Map of the World. The concluding resolutions seek to strengthen international exchange, promote common professional standards without erasing national particularities, improve accessibility and comparability, and encourage the regular modernization of atlas content. A catalogue of the Budapest exhibition documents a wide range of national, regional, economic, planning, census, and resource atlases from numerous countries, demonstrating both the global diffusion of atlas-making and the diversity of its institutional and cartographic traditions. Overall, the volume presents national atlases as integrated syntheses of territorial knowledge and as practical foundations for planning and development, while defining international collaboration, methodological refinement, and technological innovation as central tasks for their future advancement.

Geographical reviews: Atlas Nationaux

This article comprises three book reviews from the Geographical Review journal. The first reviews the collected volume Oceanography, highlighting L. H. N. Cooper's new theory on subsurface water density distribution, which proposes that ocean waters are arranged in thick layers of 'resident water' separated by shallow discontinuity layers—a concept with significant implications for deep-sea circulation, radiocarbon dating, and vertical distribution of marine life. The second reviews a Soviet monograph on national atlases, systematically elaborating the definitional criteria, compilation principles, and content classification for national atlases. The third reviews Kartografia Ekonomiczna, the first Polish work on economic cartography, introducing its classification system for economic maps and technical cartographic methods.

National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization

Introduction to National Atlases is translated from a volume edited by K. A. Salishchev of Moscow State University and intended as a reference for compiling national and provincial atlases. The visible opening and closing sections define national atlases as large collections synthesizing physical, economic, and political geography. They describe the International Geographical Union’s establishment of a Commission on National Atlases in 1956 to assist compilation, improve quality, and promote comparability. The book comprises three chapters on history and analysis, general compilation principles and mathematical foundations, and map themes and content. The opening traces early proposals for comprehensive atlases and the accumulation of scientific information. It identifies the 1899 Atlas of Finland as the first national atlas, praises its concise presentation of national conditions, and notes uneven coverage, incomplete themes, and missing quantitative indicators. The closing discusses administrative divisions and electoral maps. It recommends selecting geographical base-map elements according to the subject and national conditions, using them for positioning, cartographic generalization, and coordination, while maintaining consistency in shared elements and related maps at the same scale. Explanatory texts should document purposes, compilation principles, indicators, classifications, and sources, with charts supplementing temporal changes and information difficult to represent cartographically. A final proposed list covers physical geography, population, economic activities, culture, and health, with some themes conditional on national circumstances.

Climate maps in national atlases

A complete climate section of a national atlas should contain maps, tables and graphs presenting data on climate-forming factors, the temperature regime, moisture supply, climatic regions and typical weather situations. Published national atlases are analyzed and recommendations for the treatment of climate are made. Particular importance is attached to the integrated presentation of several climatic elements on a single map. The value of climatic maps for various segments of the economy (agriculture, construction, transportation) is emphasized.

Drawing and reproduction of national atlases

This article examines the technical and organizational principles governing the drawing and reproduction of national atlases, using the Atlas of Sweden as its principal example. Unlike standardized world, school, or road atlases, national atlases consist largely of thematically distinct maps and therefore require flexible, case-specific production methods. The study reviews postwar advances in cartographic materials and reproduction, emphasizing the shift from dimensionally unstable paper and cellulose acetate to vinyl and, subsequently, polyester sheets, whose lower thermal expansion improves registration in multicolour work. It also discusses the development of suitable inks, coated scribing films, symbol and type stick-up, strip-mask colour separation, contact screens, colour-proofing, larger printing plates, and multicolour presses. Positive scribing is recommended for most atlas and thematic maps because originals remain readable, can be superimposed for checking, and accommodate added symbols or ink corrections; negative scribing is more appropriate for frequently revised products such as nautical charts and road maps. Sapphire cutters offer markedly greater durability than steel needles, while scribing and strip-mask techniques can substantially reduce costs in large and complex projects. The article argues that no single process is universally optimal: pen-and-ink drawing, scribing, adhesive symbols, masking, and photographic methods should be combined according to map content and revision needs. Modern techniques have consequently blurred the boundary between cartographic design and reproduction. High-quality, economical atlas production therefore depends on careful workflow planning, appropriate printing formats, close cooperation among geographers, editors, cartographers, draftsmen, and reproduction technicians, and international exchange of technical experience.

Geological maps in national atlases

This article reviews the group of geological maps in national atlases, comparing the form and content of geological-stratigraphic, tectonic, mineral-deposits, lithological-petrographic, and Quaternary-deposits maps, and offering recommendations for greater uniformity. The author notes significant variations among published atlases in the number and headings of geological maps, base-map compilation principles, representation methods, and completeness, attributing these to both natural and socio-economic conditions and subjective compilation approaches. To ensure comparability and integrated regional study, the article emphasizes the need for consistency within the geological map group and with other physical maps regarding mathematical and geographical bases, content complementarity, classification detail, and generalization degree. It discusses how stratigraphic detail varies with map scale and geological knowledge, and addresses issues of legend logic, color standardization, and international indexing. The article recommends that mineral-deposits maps be compiled at the same scale as geological maps to facilitate studying deposit distribution and structural associations. It also suggests including supplementary maps tailored to national characteristics, such as hydrogeological maps for arid countries and structural maps for platform regions, while noting the need for further work on Quaternary deposit classification and tectonic map legends.

La geología e industrias mineralúrgicas en los atlas nacionales

The various maps that should appear in a national atlas are considered, covering geology and related sciences, as well as the mineral processing industries, both in their mining and beneficiation aspects. The article is completed with some comments on the particular case of Spain.

Maps of inland waters in national atlases

This article outlines principles for designing and organizing inland-water maps in national atlases. Hydrographic-network maps should use the same scale as other physical-geography maps, because drainage patterns reveal key characteristics of relief, watersheds, and terrain dissection. Runoff and discharge maps should be coordinated closely with precipitation maps to support analysis of regional water balances. Seasonal runoff, for example, should be accompanied by corresponding seasonal precipitation data, with comparable indicators, representation methods, detail, and scale. Hydrological regionalization should be developed in conjunction with maps of climate, relief, soils, and vegetation, preferably at a somewhat smaller but readily comparable scale. Flood maps should also include information on causal factors such as ice conditions, snowmelt, precipitation, wind-driven surges, and earthquakes. Because economic activity substantially alters surface-water and groundwater regimes, hydrographic maps should depict reservoirs, canals, and related infrastructure, while the economic section should provide fuller coverage of water use. A map of integrated multipurpose water utilization is particularly valuable for arid regions and for linking the atlas’s physical and economic sections. The article concludes that inland-water maps should be arranged compactly on two or three atlas sheets and placed immediately after the climate-map section.

Maps of waters of the land in national atlases

In this article, which is part of a series on national atlases, the author makes recommendations for the selection of maps and map content to be incorporated into the atlas section devoted to the water resources of the land. She divides the maps into two major classes: maps of drainage patterns, and maps of the characteristics of stream regime.

National Atlases

This article reviews the conceptual foundations and international comparability of national atlases. Against the backdrop of the 1961 IGU Congress in Stockholm and the work of the Commission on National Atlases, it argues that rigid uniformity in atlas compilation is impractical; instead, comparability should be achieved through scale, projection, generalization, and thematic organization. The author distinguishes between analytical approaches (e.g., mapping individual resources) and synthetic approaches (e.g., representing complex physical, economic, or social interrelations), citing the Atlas of Australian Resources and the Atlas of Canada as examples of how data availability and production contexts shape outcomes. The article also discusses Salishchev's monograph on national atlases, which criticizes the lack of maps on financial and social structures. Overall, it advocates for methodological coordination rather than standardization, aiming to enhance the scientific value and international utility of national atlases while respecting national diversity.

National atlases and the ways of their creation

This article examines the concept of national atlases and the various approaches to their compilation across different countries. It traces the origin of the term "national atlas," clarifying its relationship with the broader concept of "complex atlas," and reviews the evolution from I.K. Kirilov's initial idea in 18th-century Russia to early practical implementations in Finland, Egypt, France, and other nations. The author focuses on the 1958 plenary session of the Commission on National Atlases under the International Geographical Union, held in Moscow and Leningrad, and identifies three main models of atlas compilation: the state-centralized planning model exemplified by the Soviet Union, the government-agency-led model seen in Belgium, and the decentralized voluntary cooperation model adopted in the United States. The article concludes that national atlases hold significant practical and scientific value for natural resource assessment and economic planning, and that different compilation approaches reflect national circumstances, with the Soviet model demonstrating notable advantages in systematic coordination.

Population maps in national atlases

This paper discusses the principles of compiling population maps in national atlases. The author argues that population, as society's principal productive force, should be mapped from at least four aspects: population numbers and density, settlement geography, socio-economic characteristics, and ethnographic characteristics. Through an analysis of existing atlases, it is noted that most national atlases tend to favor strictly demographic features while neglecting the socio-economic aspects. The article proposes a minimum set of population maps and discusses how their content should vary between countries with different socio-economic systems, such as capitalist and socialist states. It also addresses the logical placement of these maps within the atlas structure. The author emphasizes that a comprehensive and integrated treatment of all population aspects is essential for the scientific and practical value of any national atlas.

Agricultural maps in comprehensive national atlases

This article discusses the principles and methods of compiling agricultural maps in comprehensive national atlases. It first points out that agricultural maps occupy a significant place in national atlases, and their content is influenced by factors such as the social system, the level of development of productive forces, and the degree of study of the mapped territory. The author classifies agricultural maps into three categories: maps of agrarian relations, maps of productive forces in agriculture, and maps of the location and scale of agricultural production, and elaborates on the key points of compiling each category. The article emphasizes that the compilation of agricultural maps should focus on reflecting the dynamics of agricultural production, adopt cartographic methods that truly reflect geographical distribution patterns (such as the dot method and improved cartograms), and maintain coordination with other thematic maps (nature, population, industry, etc.). Finally, the author recommends that the agricultural map section be supplemented with textual explanations, diagrams, and photographs.

Agricultural Maps in National Atlases

This paper discusses the compilation standards for agricultural maps in national atlases, emphasizing that such maps should be accompanied by explanatory text, diagrams, photographs, and references to methodology and data sources. It cites numerous national and agricultural atlases published between the 1930s and 1950s, including the Atlas of the Belorussian SSR, the Great Soviet World Atlas, the Atlas de Belgique, and the Atlas of American Agriculture, as reference examples. Additionally, the paper includes a translated excerpt by A. I. Spiridonov on geomorphic mapping abroad, noting that several countries have produced general geomorphic maps at medium and small scales (1:500,000 and smaller) based on existing textual and cartographic materials, commonly found in regional geomorphic monographs, articles, and atlases. The aim is to provide cartographers with international experience to enhance the standardization and scientific rigor of agricultural and geomorphic thematic mapping.

Atlas nationaux : histoire, analyse, voies de perfectionnement et d'unification

Prepared under the auspices of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases and coordinated by Soviet geographers and cartographers, this volume examines the history, existing practice, and methodological foundations of national atlas production while proposing measures for improvement and international unification. It defines a national atlas as a fundamental, comprehensive cartographic work that synthesizes contemporary knowledge of a country’s physical, economic, social, cultural, and political geography. Its practical purpose is to present the greatest possible amount of reliable information in a compact, expressive, and accessible form, thereby supporting research, education, planning, administration, and broader public understanding. The historical survey traces the idea of integrated country atlases from early projects associated with Vauban and the Russian cartographer I. K. Kirilov to the emergence of modern national atlases. It argues that such works became feasible only after the expansion of topographic surveying, the development and differentiation of the natural and geographical sciences, and the growth of statistical observation following the Industrial and French Revolutions. Nineteenth-century thematic atlases devoted to meteorology, agriculture, industry, and other fields supplied important precedents, but varied greatly in scope, organization, and cartographic technique. The study therefore compares completed and planned national atlases, identifying differences in subject coverage, scale, projection, representation methods, mathematical basis, and institutional organization. A central argument is that international unification should not suppress the distinctive natural conditions, historical development, or socioeconomic systems of individual countries. Rather, coordination of essential themes, classifications, symbols, scales, projections, coordinate grids, and topographic bases should make analogous maps more readily comparable and eventually permit national atlases to serve as source material for international maps of the world. The volume accordingly discusses the general requirements and component parts of an atlas, the selection of cartographic methods, page format and scale systems, map projections, and coordinate networks. Its proposed thematic program encompasses introductory maps and extensive series on the physical environment, population, economy, culture, and political administration. Physical-geographical coverage includes geology, geophysics, relief, climate, hydrology and oceanography, soils, vegetation, forests, fauna, and natural regionalization. Population maps address distribution, density, natural change, age and sex composition, employment, social structure, ethnicity, language, belief, and settlement. Economic sections cover industry, agriculture and agrarian relations, transport and telecommunications, domestic and foreign trade, finance, national income, investment, and economic regionalization. Cultural and administrative series include education, science, public culture, health, sport, tourism, monuments, protected areas, territorial government, and political parties where relevant. By distinguishing recommended from supplementary maps and adapting certain topics to capitalist, socialist, arid, maritime, or territorially extensive countries, the work combines standardization with flexibility. Overall, it functions both as a comparative assessment of national atlas practice and as a normative guide for future international cooperation, emphasizing scientific synthesis, internal consistency, legibility, practical utility, and cross-national comparability.

Climate maps in comprehensive national atlases

This article examines the role, content, and design principles of climate-map sections in comprehensive national atlases. Because climate shapes natural landscapes and strongly affects agriculture, industry, transport, and other economic activities, such sections must combine scientific accuracy with practical utility. Drawing on comparative analysis of national and specialized atlases from Europe, the Soviet Union, the United States, Australia, and other regions, the author argues that a comprehensive atlas should present a selective yet coherent set of approximately 30–40 climate maps rather than reproduce the much larger scope of a specialized climatic atlas. Selection and design should emphasize relationships between climate and other natural components, comparability with other atlas maps, interdependence among climatic elements, and temporal dynamics. A well-developed section should cover climate-forming factors, temperature regimes, moisture conditions, wind, climatic regionalization, and typical weather. Recommended materials include maps, graphs, tables, and explanatory text on solar radiation, day length, atmospheric pressure, cyclone and anticyclone tracks, cloudiness, long-term mean and extreme temperatures, threshold-temperature dates, frost-free periods, precipitation, snow cover, humidity, evaporation, soil moisture, and wind frequency and velocity. Indicators should be adapted to national geography, data availability, atlas scale, and economic needs; for example, accumulated temperatures above 10°C or 15°C are especially relevant to crop cultivation in different climatic zones. The article stresses the use of common time periods and comparable scales, as well as the joint representation of two or three related variables on one map to improve information density and reveal causal connections. A climatic-regions map is considered essential as a synthesis of multiple indicators and should be coordinated in scale with other physical-geographical maps. Station-location maps, regional graphs, synoptic charts, phenological materials, and methodological notes can further clarify data reliability and practical meaning. The study concludes that climate sections should not follow a rigid universal template: their content and representational form must reflect each country’s size, location, climatic diversity, level of observation, and planning priorities. Nevertheless, internal consistency, cross-sectional comparability, integrated cartographic representation, and an explicit connection between climatological theory and socioeconomic application are fundamental principles for constructing scientifically valuable national atlases.

Geological maps in national atlases

The article examines the compilation of geological map groups in national atlases. It notes significant differences among published atlases in the number, content, legend principles, and representation methods of geological maps, which hinder international comparison. Based on an analysis of atlases from several countries (e.g., Belgium, Italy, France, the USSR), the author systematically reviews the current state and problems of key map types, including geological, tectonic, mineral resource, lithological-petrographic, and Quaternary deposit maps. The article emphasizes the need to unify legend principles, coordinate scales, and standardize representation methods to ensure map comparability and facilitate comprehensive territorial studies. Finally, it offers specific recommendations for improving the content and design of geological map groups, such as adopting a unified stratigraphic legend, strengthening the linkage between tectonic and mineral maps, and adding auxiliary maps based on national geological characteristics, aiming to provide a scientific basis for enhancing national atlases.

National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization

Edited by K. A. Salishchev, chairman of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases, this volume offers a systematic historical review, comparative analysis, and methodological program for improving and standardizing national atlases. It defines a national atlas as a major, integrated cartographic work that synthesizes current scientific knowledge of a country’s physical, economic, population, and political geography. Because maps present complex information compactly, clearly, and accessibly, such atlases are treated not only as scholarly reference works but also as instruments for national planning, administration, education, public communication, and international geographical research. The study traces the idea from early proposals by Vauban and the eighteenth-century Russian cartographer Ivan Kirilov to the emergence of modern comprehensive atlases. It argues that their development depended on the expansion of topographic surveying, the rise of specialized geographical sciences, the growth of official statistics after the industrial and political transformations of the late eighteenth century, and advances in thematic cartography. Representative atlases and projects from Finland, Canada, Russia and the Soviet Union, Egypt, Czechoslovakia, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, India, Israel, Congo, Morocco, the United States, Australia, and other territories are examined with regard to organization, subject coverage, source materials, and cartographic practice. On the basis of this comparison, the book formulates general requirements of scientific reliability, comprehensiveness, systematic structure, currency, legibility, internal consistency, and practical usefulness. Particular attention is given to harmonizing atlas divisions, scales, page formats, map projections, coordinate grids, legends, statistical indicators, and methods of representation so that related maps within one atlas—and analogous maps from different countries—can be compared. The proposed thematic framework begins with introductory maps and proceeds through nature, population, economy, culture, and political-administrative organization. The natural section covers geology, geophysics, relief, climate, hydrology, soils, vegetation, forests, zoogeography, and physical-geographical regionalization. Population maps portray numbers, distribution, settlement, social characteristics, and ethnicity. Economic maps address industry, agriculture, transportation, communications, trade, finance, and integrated economic patterns, while cultural and social themes include education, science, arts, folklore, publishing, broadcasting, living conditions, health care, sport, tourism, protected areas, and cultural monuments. The volume also discusses the common geographical base of maps, explanatory texts, and a model list of atlas topics. It ultimately presents national atlas production as a coordinated interdisciplinary and governmental undertaking whose standardization can support cross-national comparison and provide dependable source material for future international maps of the world.

Nationalatlanten: Vorschläge zu ihrer vervollkommnung

This article reviews the emergence, development, achievements, and deficiencies of national atlases and proposes systematic principles for their improvement. A national atlas is defined as a comprehensive geographical work synthesizing contemporary knowledge of a country’s physical environment, population, economy, culture, and political organization. Beginning with the Atlas of Finland of 1899, the author traces the expansion of atlas production after the two world wars. The creation of new states, economic planning, the search for domestic resources, colonial exploitation, postwar reconstruction, and decolonization all increased demand for geographically integrated information. By the late 1950s, national atlases had appeared or were being prepared across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia, and the Soviet republics. These works are regarded not only as practical instruments for planning and resource development but also as major expressions of national culture and geographical scholarship. Their compilation promotes cooperation among geographical disciplines, reveals gaps in knowledge, facilitates comparison and verification of data, and stimulates advances in cartographic methods. Nevertheless, existing atlases display recurrent weaknesses: insufficient attention to practical needs; imbalance among sections; omission or inadequate treatment of important subjects; inconsistencies between overlapping maps; defective generalization; poorly founded indicators; unsuitable representation techniques; and uneven scientific or technical quality. The author therefore advocates coordinated standards without imposing a rigid universal template. Atlas design should reflect each country’s territory, natural conditions, socioeconomic system, level of development, and intended users, while preserving comparability and internal coherence. Maps should be scientifically reliable, mutually consistent, appropriately generalized, clearly legible, and supported by well-selected quantitative indicators. The proposed model organizes atlas content into major divisions. The physical-geographical section should include geology, relief, climate, inland waters and oceanography, soils, vegetation, fauna, natural resources, and physical-geographical regionalization. The population section should address distribution, density, demographic dynamics, sex and age structure, social and occupational composition, ethnicity, language, religion, anthropology, and settlement types. The economic section should map industry, agriculture, transport, communications, trade, finance, national income, investment, and economic regions, while adapting themes such as ownership, foreign capital, or collectivization to capitalist or socialist systems. Additional divisions should cover education, science, cultural institutions, living conditions, health care, sport, tourism, protected areas, cultural monuments, administrative divisions, state institutions, and political parties where relevant. Overall, the national atlas is presented as an integrated scientific and practical system rather than a miscellaneous collection of maps; its improvement requires balanced thematic coverage, interdisciplinary synthesis, methodological rigor, and close alignment with national planning and public needs.

On the Question of Industrial Maps in Comprehensive National Atlases

This article examines the principles, thematic structure, and cartographic methods appropriate for representing industry in comprehensive national atlases. Drawing on examples from the Great Soviet World Atlas and national or economic atlases of the Byelorussian SSR, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia, the author demonstrates that existing atlases differ markedly in the space devoted to industry, the balance between general and sectoral maps, the degree of thematic detail, and the techniques used to depict industrial location. To improve scientific consistency and permit international comparison, the article advocates a systematic yet adaptable framework. The number of industrial maps should depend on a country’s level of industrialization, diversity of production, economic characteristics, and the overall scale and design of the atlas. An industrially advanced country might require sixty or more maps, although these need not occupy an equal number of sheets because full spreads, partial pages, inset maps, and varying scales can be combined. The industrial section should be divided into two broad groups: general industrial maps and maps of individual sectors. General maps should portray the distribution and agglomeration of industrial centers, historical stages of industrial development, the territorial intensity of industrialization, social ownership, foreign-capital participation, enterprise concentration, unemployment, mechanization, electrification, labor productivity, new construction, and the sectoral composition of industrial centers. A principal national map should represent every significant industrial center with continuously scaled proportional symbols based on a consistent indicator, preferably the value of fixed assets or industrial employment, while transport networks, hydrography, administrative boundaries, and enlarged insets provide geographic context. Historical map series should combine dates important to each country with internationally standardized benchmark years, thereby revealing industrial growth and spatial change over time. Sectoral maps should show extraction, processing, transportation, productive capacity, output, technological linkages, and facilities under construction or in planning. More than forty proposed themes encompass electric power; petroleum and gas; coal, peat, and shale; ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy; several branches of machinery production; inorganic and organic chemicals; construction materials; forestry, woodworking, pulp, and paper; printing; textiles and other light industries; and numerous food-processing branches. Particular attention is given to energy maps, which should connect generating facilities and fuel bases with transmission systems and major consumers. The author stresses that the proposed inventory is not a rigid universal template: maps may be omitted, combined, expanded, or subdivided according to national economic conditions. The resulting reference scheme—twenty-five general themes and forty sectoral themes—is intended to provide a comprehensive account of industrial history, spatial organization, internal structure, production relationships, and future development while enhancing the comparability and practical value of national atlases.

Population maps in comprehensive national atlases

This article examines the compilation of population maps within comprehensive national atlases. The author argues that depicting the geographical distribution and characteristics of the population, as society's primary productive force, is a central task of such atlases, particularly for countries with planned economies. The paper systematically outlines four fundamental aspects of population characterization: demographic (size, natural and mechanical movement, sex-age structure), socio-economic (social class and occupational composition, labor participation, living conditions), ethnographic (ethnic composition, language, culture, anthropological differences), and settlement geography (distribution and types of settlements). Through an analysis of numerous atlas examples, the author notes that most atlases overemphasize demographic and ethnographic features while socio-economic aspects are commonly neglected. Early Soviet atlases (e.g., the Moscow Oblast Atlas) provided a good model but this approach was not continued. The article proposes a minimum set of four core map types for the population section and discusses thematic differences between countries with different social systems, as well as the placement of population maps within the atlas and the necessity of accompanying explanatory text. It concludes that only a balanced and comprehensive representation of all population dimensions ensures the scientific and practical value of the atlas as an integrated work.

Problems of maps of industry in national atlases

This paper addresses the compilation of industrial maps in national atlases, drawing on the experience of the Atlas of Czechoslovakia. It examines base maps for industrial location, the distinction between geographical and administrative-statistical units, international industrial classification, and the mapping of economic-geographical relations. Geographical units should be based on population distribution and production concentration, and may be merged by functional unity and spatial proximity. Industrial classification should adopt international categories such as energy, mining, engineering, and chemicals, rather than geographical ones. Mapping economic relations risks overcrowding; the Soviet regional atlas method, though effective, is limited to planned economies. The paper concludes that a uniform base is essential for international comparability and peace.

Propositions en vue d'améliorer les Atlas nationaux

This note outlines an initiative to improve national atlases. Seven Soviet reports presented in Moscow in 1958 proposed revisions concerning cartographic mathematics, climate, relief, geographical environment, agriculture, population, and industry. At the author’s suggestion, the Belgian National Committee of Geography began critically evaluating these proposals. The findings were to be presented to the National Atlases Commission at the 1960 Stockholm Congress.

Reviews of books: Atlas nationaux: histoire, analyse, voies de perfectionnement et d'unification

This is an academic review of K. A. Salichtchev's work "National Atlases: History, Analysis, Paths of Improvement and Unification," published by the USSR Academy of Sciences Press in 1960. The book systematically examines the status of national atlases in sixteen countries, including Finland, the Soviet Union, Egypt, Czechoslovakia, Italy, India, Canada, Australia, Sweden, France, the United States, Morocco, Poland, and Israel. Based on this analysis, it offers detailed critiques and recommendations concerning atlas content selection, projection choices, and format design. The review notes that this report, as a key output of the IGU Commission on National Atlases, provides timely and practical reference value for atlas projects in many countries, including Scotland, and recommends reading it in conjunction with relevant Polish Academy of Sciences literature.

Some remarks about national atlases

This article aims to explore the definition, characteristics, and key issues in the compilation of national atlases. The author first reviews the background of the establishment of the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union and the outcomes of its Moscow meeting, noting that the compilation of national atlases, as representative cartographic publications providing scientific, multilateral characteristics of a country, has significantly increased worldwide in recent years. The article proposes that a national atlas should possess several typical features: first, it should cover a single state within its current boundaries; second, its content should comprehensively reflect the country's geographical environment, population and settlements, economic development, and cultural life. The author emphasizes that national atlases differ from general informational atlases or special atlases, the latter focusing only on certain elements of the geographic environment or specific economic sectors, and thus should be classified as special atlases. Furthermore, the author discusses the classification of atlases for individual states within federal countries, arguing that atlases of large federal entities (e.g., republics of the USSR, states of the USA) can be considered national atlases, while those of small federal states (e.g., states of Germany or Austria) should be classified as regional atlases. The article also criticizes atlases burdened with excessive generalization and tendentiousness, categorizing them as popular-propaganda atlases. In terms of compilation methods, the author advocates that a national atlas should be a geographical rather than encyclopedic atlas, problem-oriented rather than statistical, dynamic rather than static, and should serve as a tool for spatial planning of the country's development. Finally, the article discusses the potential for international standardization, including map scales, layout of maps on the plate, atlas format, minimum content scope, multilingual legends and titles, citation of sources, standardization of base maps, unification of cartographic methods, printing techniques, and covers, aiming to stimulate international discussion and exchange.

National atlases

National atlases present a comprehensive, scientifically considered synthesis of knowledge about a given country, which, under the current system of national economic planning, constitutes an essential basis for preliminary considerations of the economic problems of respective countries. This article first explains the significance and characteristics of national atlases, then, using the atlases of France, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, and Scotland as examples, provides a detailed account of their editorial bodies, formats, content structure, scale systems, cartographic methods, and publication status, evaluating their respective strengths and weaknesses. The latter part of the article focuses on reviewing the compilation history of the Polish National Atlas (Atlas Polski), a project undertaken by the Polish State Cartographic and Publishing Enterprise (PPWK), originally planned for publication in fascicles and covering physiographic, human, and economic topics. However, the project was discontinued after the publication of only four fascicles (including map sets on geology, geomorphology, soils, hydrography, climate, and biogeography), and the project for the General World Atlas (Atlas Powszechny) was also completely abandoned. The article analyzes the reasons for the project's failure, concluding that a lack of cooperation and support from external factors was the main cause of the cessation of these publications, a setback that severely damaged the prestige of Polish cartography. Finally, the author calls for the resumption or restart of the national atlas project on the occasion of Poland's millennium, framing it as a paramount task for Polish cartography to comprehensively present the country's achievements and meet the diverse needs of education, science, and socio-economic planning, emphasizing that national atlases are the best medium for disseminating knowledge about a country to the world.

Creation of national atlases - one of central problems of modern geography

The creation of national atlases is one of the central problems of modern geography. This paper argues that maps serve as both the starting point and the end result of geographical research, and as a vital link between geography and practical needs. As practical demands have shifted from general-purpose maps to specialized ones, complex mapping has become a hallmark of modern geography. National complex atlases, which integrate information on natural conditions, resources, and economic distribution, are especially valuable for rational resource utilization and economic planning. To support the production and quality improvement of national atlases and to promote their standardization for international comparison and future compilation of international thematic maps, the International Geographical Union established the Commission of National Atlases in 1956. This paper outlines the Commission's main tasks, including analyzing existing atlases, proposing recommended map lists, unifying projections and legends, and suggesting scientific compilation methods, while also looking forward to its role in fostering international cooperation.

National atlases of socialist countries in the service of the national economy. Economic-geographical maps in national atlases

In the available opening and closing sections, Rado and Bermat discuss how national atlases of socialist countries can support economic planning and international economic cooperation. They argue that economic-geographical maps should show relationships among production, population, natural conditions, and transport to inform industrial location, regional specialization, and integrated regional development. They criticize atlases that primarily display statistics by administrative units without adequately representing geographical relationships, while praising the regional economic synthesis maps in the 1958 Atlas of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In their account, the predominance of sectoral planning has limited practical atlas use, whereas territorial planning increases demand for economic-geographical research and map series. The closing sections examine the potential contribution of national atlases to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance’s coordination of national plans and production specialization. They emphasize comparisons of natural resources, labour, transport, existing equipment, and production traditions. Examples involving coal mining and tractor manufacturing illustrate the need to consider production costs, transport costs, and production scale together. The authors propose a coordinating commission to harmonize atlas themes, symbols, and scales and discuss cartographic methods and technical issues, improving comparability and preparing the basis for a future comprehensive international atlas of socialist countries.

Several Issues on Compiling the National Atlas

Based on the practical experience of the Soviet Union in compiling large-scale comprehensive national atlases, this paper systematically discusses the key issues in the compilation of national atlases. It first emphasizes the significance of comprehensive atlases in reflecting a country's natural, economic, and social characteristics, and points out that the core task of editorial work lies in revealing the interrelations among various phenomena. The paper then elaborates on the main components of editorial preparation, including the formulation of a general plan, collection and processing of cartographic materials, experimental work, determination of technological procedures, staff training, and scientific-technical summarization. It highlights the importance of collective leadership by an editorial committee, collaboration among multiple institutions, and systematic data collection. Specific methods are proposed to unify symbols and colors through experimental work and to reduce costs by optimizing printing processes. Finally, it concludes that timely scientific-technical summaries serve as valuable references for accumulating experience and improving the quality of future cartographic works.

Zur Problematik der Nationalatlanten

This article examines the conceptual, methodological, and practical problems associated with “national atlases,” taking as its immediate context the 1959 Moscow meeting of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases and drawing on atlas projects from a variety of countries and regions. It argues that the term “national atlas,” although widely adopted during the preceding two decades and often promoted as a state’s cartographic calling card, does not denote a stable or clearly delimited scientific category. Atlas projects differ substantially in territorial extent, base-map scale, degree of generalization, treatment of source material, intellectual tradition, and intended use. Some primarily support spatial planning, resource utilization, and economic analysis; others seek a geographical synthesis of the natural environment, population, society, economy, historical development, and functional relations within a region. Political boundaries and national status therefore provide an inadequate basis for classifying such works. The close similarity in geographical conception and cartographic purpose between the Atlas of Belgium, explicitly presented as a national atlas, and subnational works such as the Atlas of Lower Saxony or the Atlas of Lower Austria demonstrates the limitation of the conventional label. The author consequently proposes the broader and more precise concept of the “complex regional atlas.” The fundamental challenge lies not in graphic technique alone—symbols, lines, colors, and other elements of cartographic language appear to have reached a relatively mature stage—but in the atlas’s purpose, epistemological framework, and balance between analytical mapping and regional synthesis. A successful regional atlas should preserve the individuality of a territory while representing recurrent and typical features in ways that permit systematic comparison. The Soviet contributions discussed in the article seek greater comparability without suppressing regional distinctiveness. Recommendations include coordinating principal scale groups and map projections; improving consistency in hypsometric intervals, terrain generalization, and geomorphological legends; distinguishing demographic, socioeconomic, and ethnographic approaches to population; combining selected climatic variables; using comparable indices; and presenting agriculture and industry through both specialized sectoral maps and simplified general maps. Major population maps should, where possible, employ the same scales as principal physical and economic maps. The article ultimately distinguishes between objective differences, which arise from the physical, cultural, socioeconomic, and dimensional characteristics of territories, and avoidable differences caused by the subjective choices of individual cartographers. The former must be respected to prevent misguided uniformity, whereas the latter can be reduced through international agreement on projections, symbols, legends, scales, and methods. Standardization should thus remain flexible and functional, serving scientific comparison, regional understanding, and practical planning rather than imposing mechanical sameness. Decisions such as the choice among physiognomic, floristic, or combined vegetation maps must still depend on purpose, scale, available space, and financial constraints.

National atlases: current state of the problem, scientific tasks, and Moscow University's participation in their solution

This article examines the important issue of national atlases in modern geography, reviews their historical development, analyzes the current state of the problem, and elaborates on the role and participation of Moscow University in solving related scientific tasks. The article points out that national atlases, as comprehensive geographical atlases, are of great significance for the rational use of natural resources and economic development. The International Geographical Union established the Commission on National Atlases in 1956, chaired by a Soviet scholar, making the Faculty of Geography at Moscow University the center of international cooperation. The article systematically traces the development of atlases from Ptolemy's era to the 20th century, emphasizing the value of comprehensive atlases in scientific research and practical application. Currently, the main problems facing national atlases include: inconsistencies in map projections and scales, differences in legend systems, varying content detail, and uneven printing quality. To address these, the Commission has proposed tasks such as systematically analyzing existing atlases, establishing unified standards, recommending universal legends, and improving production methods. The article particularly notes that national atlases and atlases of Soviet republics and regions share consistency in scale ranges, generalization principles, and legend systems, and their research can be mutually reinforcing. The Faculty of Geography at Moscow University will organize international meetings to coordinate research efforts and summarize achievements, contributing to enhancing the scientific level of national atlases.

National atlases: A summary

This article provides a comprehensive review of national atlases published worldwide up to the time of writing. It notes that since the Geographical Review first coined the term 'Age of National Atlases' in 1940, the surge of nationalism after World War II has greatly accelerated the production and scope of such atlases. The author surveys 26 published national atlases and 3 in preparation. The article first emphasizes that a national atlas aims to portray all aspects of a country—physical, economic, and social—and highlights a welcome trend: the inclusion of map titles, legends, and text summaries in English or French for atlases published in less familiar languages. The review is then organized by region. For Europe, it details atlases from Austria (Atlas von Niederösterreich), Belgium (Atlas de Belgique), France (revised Atlas de France), and Germany (Deutscher Planungsatlas, specifically Atlas von Berlin), among others, discussing their institutional backing, content structure, scales, cartographic techniques, and unique features, such as Berlin's depiction of wartime damage and postwar development, and Belgium's detailed demographic and agricultural maps. Atlases from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Norway are also mentioned. For Africa, the planned Atlas du Maroc is described. For Oceania, the Atlas of Australian Resources is reviewed, highlighting its origin in post-war resource assessment, its effective use of a large scale, and its focus on water resources and population distribution. For North America, the article reports on the progress of a Canadian national atlas and the initiation of the National Atlas of the United States, a collaborative federal effort to compile standardized thematic maps from various government agencies. The article concludes that these national atlases represent significant achievements in geographic and cartographic scholarship, serving as invaluable resources for students, planners, and businesses.

Issues in comprehensive geographical mapping and its development in the USSR

The article examines the theoretical significance, principal forms, historical evolution, and future development of comprehensive geographical cartography, with particular attention to Soviet practice. Maps are presented as tools for locating facts, communicating existing knowledge, comparison, analysis, scientific generalization, and prediction. Their importance increases when geographical inquiry is directed toward practical problems of economic planning, regional development, resource assessment, and the rational distribution of productive forces. Comprehensive mapping seeks to portray natural conditions, resources, population, and economic activity as an interconnected territorial system. The author distinguishes three main approaches: individual synthetic maps combining several related phenomena; comprehensive geographical atlases composed of mutually complementary thematic maps; and coordinated series of specialized maps designed for joint use. Individual comprehensive maps have proved useful in topographic, economic, agricultural, and land-evaluation work. Nevertheless, the restricted graphic capacity of a single sheet, together with the inevitable generalization caused by scale reduction, makes it difficult to represent numerous natural and socioeconomic components clearly and simultaneously. Comprehensive atlases and coordinated thematic series therefore offer much broader analytical possibilities. The article traces their development from eighteenth-century projects, including Kirilov’s plans, through the rise of specialized geographical sciences, Humboldtian ideas concerning the interdependence of natural phenomena, Berghaus’s Physical Atlas, Russian economic-statistical publications, national atlases, and attempts to create global synthetic atlases. This history demonstrates that major atlas projects depend upon mature geographical theory, extensive surveys and statistics, institutional support, and state resources rather than commercial cartography alone. In the Soviet Union, comprehensive mapping became closely connected with socialist construction, territorial planning, and systematic investigation of natural resources, producing major industrial, regional, maritime, and world atlases. The author gives special emphasis to coordination among state geological, soil, geobotanical, geomorphological, and other surveys. Common scales, sheet systems, projections, base maps, classifications, nomenclature, and comparable legends allow specialized maps to be superimposed and jointly analyzed, revealing relationships among soils, relief, parent materials, vegetation, geology, and mineral resources. The State Soil Map of the USSR at 1:1,000,000 exemplifies this approach, while an integrated national series of natural-condition maps at the same scale is identified as a central objective. The article consequently calls for the Soviet Academy of Sciences to coordinate general and specialized state mapping programs. Looking beyond national needs, it proposes that Soviet experience should contribute to a comprehensive series of world maps—including soil, vegetation, and other thematic layers—thereby extending the international 1:1,000,000 world-map initiative from a general reference project into a coordinated instrument for global geographical research.

National atlases

National atlases emerged as a significant development in cartography, systematically presenting the physical and human geography of individual countries. Early examples were often produced by young nations or those with strong national sentiment, such as the Atlas of Scotland (1895) and the Atlas of Finland. Comprehensive national atlases followed in Canada, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union, covering topography, climate, geology, population, and economic activities. Effectively representing population distribution remained challenging: the dot method proved arbitrary at small scales, while layer-colouring of density zones was generally preferred. Although Britain possessed the necessary materials—compiled by the Ordnance Survey at 1:625,000—no official national atlas had yet been published. During the war, innovative projections like Harrison's orthographic 'Look at the World' promoted a spherical worldview, reflecting the transformative impact of aviation on geographical perception.

A survey of single-country atlases

This paper systematically examines the physical properties, cartographic characteristics, and content structure of single-country atlases. The study analyzes 21 published atlases and 6 proposed ones, covering dimensions, weight, binding, projection, scale, and topical coverage. Results show that a modern single-country atlas averages approximately 17×13 inches, weighs about 12 pounds, and often employs loose-leaf binding. Scale selection is constrained by national shape and extent, with simple numerical relationships preferred for comparative ease. Content analysis reveals that such atlases typically encompass four major thematic groups—general, physical, economic, and social—though coverage varies with publication purpose and era. The study offers concrete recommendations for a new atlas of Canada, including the Lambert Conformal Conic projection and a base scale of 1:10,000,000.

Atlas nacionales como base para la confección de un gran atlas de América

This article examines the necessity and feasibility of producing national atlases (Atlas Nacional) for American countries, highlighting the significant deficiencies in current American cartography and the urgent need for official publications that accurately reflect each nation's geographical and historical reality. It proposes a systematic organizational and implementation framework, including the establishment of a central coordinating body (such as a National Atlas Commission), a division of labor among official, autonomous, and private sectors, and principles for arranging historical and geographical content. The article also addresses supplementary materials (e.g., statistical data, gazetteers, photographs) and financing challenges, and advocates for the compilation of a 'Great Atlas of America' (Gran Atlas de América) under the coordination of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH) to foster regional cooperation and cultural advancement.

National Atlases

This report reviews significant volumes of maps representing twenty-six nations and territories. A national atlas aims at the cartographical representation of the physical, biogeographical, economic, cultural and political features of a national territory. Several of the works include descriptive texts in one or more languages and gazetteers. Canada, France, Italy and Russia are represented in the report, but it has been the smaller countries such as Czechoslovakia, Belgian Congo, Indonesia, Denmark and Switzerland that have produced outstanding atlases.