Socio-economic maps of comprehensive regional atlases

Summary

This article examines the socio-economic maps in comprehensive regional atlases published in the USSR during the Seven-Year Plan (1959-1965). It begins by reviewing the history of regional atlas compilation in the Soviet Union, noting that large-scale work on comprehensive regional atlases was undertaken twice since the October Revolution: during the First Five-Year Plan (published in 1933-1934) and during the Seven-Year Plan (1959-1965). Geographers from Moscow and Leningrad Universities played prominent roles in early atlas projects, and recent years have seen the publication of comprehensive atlases for numerous union republics, autonomous republics, krais, and oblasts, including Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and others. The article points out that socio-economic maps, which include not only economic maps but also population, culture, and service-sector maps, generally dominate regional atlases, typically comprising more than half of all maps. The author analyzes the structure of eleven recent 'large' atlases, finding that the share of socio-economic maps ranges from 48.7% to 85.2%, and discusses the reasons for this variation. The article also addresses the types of socio-economic maps, their relationship to themes such as population, economy, culture, and services, and their practical application in national economic planning. Finally, the author argues that economic cartography lags behind economic geography and proposes improvements for socio-economic map compilation, including strengthening theoretical foundations, adopting mathematical methods, focusing on territorial production complexes, and advancing socio-economic cartography. The article emphasizes the need for an All-Union conference on socio-economic cartography to summarize experience and promote further development in this field.