The National Atlas of the United States of America

Summary

The visible opening and closing materials describe the preparation, intended use, and selected reference maps of The National Atlas of the United States of America. Prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, the atlas received data, subject-compilation reviews, and cartographic advice from more than 80 federal agencies, with additional cooperation from businesses, universities, and individuals. The introduction states that its 765 maps were intended to help government and business decision makers, planners, and researchers visualize nationwide distributional patterns and relationships between environmental phenomena and human activities. Coverage includes physical features, historical development, economic activities, sociocultural conditions, administrative divisions, and the country's role in world affairs. The project history records a roughly 400-page prototype completed by the American Geographical Society in 1952; ten major publishers consulted about it unanimously considered compilation and production a government responsibility and declined to undertake the project. The closing material includes a place-name index and maps of administrative divisions, physical names, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and time zones. Metropolitan areas use 1967 boundaries, time zones are dated October 1969, and the Alaska administrative map shows election districts in place of counties.