Introduction to the National Atlas

Summary

This paper introduces national atlases published by geographically advanced countries including the Soviet Union, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Italy, and Belgium. These atlases comprehensively represent natural and economic phenomena across each nation, serving both as external cultural showcases and internal tools for national education and planning reference. The author highlights the atlases of the Soviet Union, France, Czechoslovakia, and Finland as the most substantial, noting that their compilation requires coordinated efforts by central governments and multidisciplinary experts, making the task highly demanding. Given China's existing scientific achievements at the time, the author recommends beginning to collect and supplement available cartographic materials, and envisions that a future national atlas of the People's Republic of China should cover four areas: historical background, geographical environment, economic development, and regional economy.