Geographical reviews: Atlas Nacional de Cuba

Summary

Donald R. Dyer reviews the first National Atlas of Cuba, published in Spanish and Russian in 1970 to commemorate the Revolution's tenth anniversary. Approved by the Cuban Academy of Sciences in 1965 following work by a joint Cuban-Soviet initiating commission, it contains 102 pages of maps and 29 pages of text covering nature, the economy, population, culture, and history. Thematic-map data generally date from 1965–1966, while the economic information in its statistical summary is mostly from 1969. Dyer observes that the atlas's stated celebration of socialist achievements is difficult to substantiate from the maps themselves, apart from an inset of new industrial installations; accompanying graphs compare production and social services before and after the Revolution. He also highlights population change and administrative reorganization, including the increase from 125 to 280 municipios, new planning regions, and altered provincial boundaries. The Cuban Institute of Geodesy and Cartography prepared the base maps; a Soviet government bureau handled cartography, color separation, editing, and printing. Map authors included thirty-seven Cubans and twenty-five Russians and Czechs. Dyer praises the cartographic presentation and printing and considers the atlas a valuable contribution to basic knowledge of Cuba.