Thematic Atlas

Summary

This article surveys the historical development, major genres, cartographic techniques, and technological transformation of thematic atlases. Emerging alongside nineteenth-century censuses and statistical mapping, thematic atlases differ from general atlases by emphasizing specific subjects through special-purpose maps. Their principal techniques include dot mapping, proportional symbols, choropleth and dasymetric shading, lines, arrows, and pie charts. Examples such as the national atlases of the United States and Finland, Man’s Domain, The Atlas of the Arab World, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People, and The Water Atlas illustrate the distinction between multi-theme and single-subject works, as well as varied thematic, chronological, and regional structures. The discussion also notes that country-based choropleth maps may conceal substantial internal variation. By the late twentieth century, CD-ROMs, the Internet, multimedia, and animated mapping had expanded distribution and representation, transforming the thematic atlas from a bound printed collection into a dynamic digital medium.