Introduction to the Foreign Atlas: "Atlas of Finland"

Summary

This article introduces the national atlases of Finland and Sweden. The Finnish atlas, first published in 1899 and internationally recognized, was later issued in updated editions. The 1960 edition, compiled by the Geographical Society of Finland and the University of Helsinki, contains 415 maps covering physical, political, and socio-economic topics, with English explanations. The Swedish atlas, published since 1953, uses a spread-page format with scales of 1:4 million and 1:8 million, featuring detailed thematic maps on relief, climate, vegetation, lakes, peatlands, forests, agricultural phenology, population, and arable land, supplemented by textual notes and transparent overlay sheets for administrative boundaries. Both atlases emphasize scientific rigor and practical economic relevance, reflecting their countries' natural and socio-economic conditions.