Maps of the Congo

Summary

This note reports on a valuable addition to the Map Division's African holdings: five folios of the French-Flemish Atlas Général Du Congo Et Du Ruanda-Urundi (Algemene Atlas Van Congo En Van Ruanda-Urundi), published by the Institut Royal Colonial Belge, Brussels, 1948. When complete, the atlas will consist of seven sections—History, Geodesy, the Physical World, Biogeography, Anthropology and the Social Sciences, Politics and Government, and Economics—each subdivided into folios. The five folios currently acquired cover an introduction, biogeography, history, and political affairs. The introductory folio includes a 1:3,000,000 map showing international, provincial, and district boundaries, along with towns, villages, rivers, lakes, missions, mines, roads, railroads, and airports, supplemented by a comprehensive 23-page gazetteer. Other folios delineate vegetation zones, national parks and forest reserves, routes of Congo explorers, and administrative subdivisions since 1888, each accompanied by relevant textual material. The publisher indicates additional folios in preparation on ethnology, language, population density, transportation, hydrography, boundaries, telecommunications, and economy. For topics not yet issued, researchers may consult René de Rouck's Atlas Géographique Et Historique Du Congo Belge Et Des Territoires Sous Mandat Du Ruanda-Urundi (Bruxelles, 1947) in the Map Division's reading room. This acquisition enriches cartographic resources for African studies and offers useful guidance for researchers and collection development.