Recenzje: Atłas Armjanskoj Sovetskoj Socialističeskoj Respubliki

Summary

This article is an academic review by Witold Kusiński of the Atlas of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Yerevan–Moscow, 1961). It outlines the expansion of complex cartographic publishing in the USSR and the principles adopted at a 1961 Moscow University conference, then introduces the atlas produced by a multidisciplinary team led by Academician A. B. Bagdasarian. The atlas consists of six parts: preface, introductory section, natural conditions, population, economy, and history. The review examines its contents in detail. Natural-condition maps cover geology, seismic-tectonics, engineering geology, climate (after Köppen), hydrology, soils, vegetation, fauna, physical-geographical regions, and energy resources. Population maps show an almost homogeneous ethnic structure (Armenians 88%), high natural increase, uneven vertical distribution, urbanization, and Armenian dispersal/repatriation. Economic maps occupy about 35% of the atlas, with agriculture predominant; however, industry maps are criticized for lacking clear criteria for center size and industrial structure, while some agricultural maps show only deviations from republic averages. The atlas also includes synthetic agricultural specialization and complex economic maps with production linkages, plus historical maps. The reviewer concludes that, despite weaknesses especially in the economic-geographic section, the atlas is a logically coherent, graphically excellent, and rich source of knowledge about Armenia, and a worthy model of a national atlas.