Preparation of national and regional atlases in India

Summary

This paper reviews the progress in the preparation of national and regional atlases in India from 1960 to 1964. The National Atlas Organization and the Office of the Registrar General of India were respectively responsible for national and regional atlases, with two research institutes also engaged in regional economic atlas projects. Since the preliminary Hindi edition of the National Atlas in 1957, a staff of about 175 has been compiling data for the main English edition, completing 16 maps, with 55 in press and 75 under compilation. Map design followed the recommendations of the IGU Commission on National Atlases, incorporating village-level data. Among regional census atlases, those for Orissa, Bihar, and Rajasthan were most advanced, while work on other states progressed steadily, with close cooperation between national and regional bodies.