L'Atlante Fisico-Economico d'Italia

Summary

This article is Giotto Dainelli's presentation of the "Physical-Economic Atlas of Italy" at the Congress of European Geographers in Würzburg. The author traces the atlas's long journey from conception to completion: the initial idea emerged 37 years earlier during an academic stay in Vienna, but was delayed due to concerns about insufficient data. He subsequently accumulated materials through the journal "Geographic Memoirs," yet progress remained slow. Discussions at the 1921 Florence Geographical Congress yielded no concrete advancement. Only after seeing similar works at the Warsaw Geographical Congress did the author resolve to accelerate completion, securing publication support under the Fascist regime. The atlas comprises over 600 maps, more than 400 of which were drawn personally by the author, covering natural conditions (topography, climate, geology, vegetation) and human-economic activities (population distribution, agriculture, industry, culture), based on the 1927 industrial census and conditions around 1930. The author emphasizes that while physical maps possess relative stability, economic and human maps must promptly reflect dynamic changes; hence he strove to complete the work within four years to portray contemporary Italy. The article candidly acknowledges certain shortcomings, such as insufficient representation of forest vegetation and coarse industrial census classifications, but overall considers the atlas a comprehensive depiction of Italy's demographic and economic geography around 1930. Finally, the author recommends periodic updates of such atlases and calls for international coordination in cartographic methods, scales, and dates to facilitate cross-national comparisons and enhance understanding of broader human communities.