Azerbaijan

И. Н. Гусева; З. Ф. Котлова

This article reviews the Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR, published in 1963. The atlas, comprising 218 pages, is organized into five main sections: introductory, natural conditions, economy, cultural development, and history, providing a comprehensive characterization of the republic's nature and economy. The review analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each section, noting that while the structure generally conforms to standard comprehensive national atlases, it lacks a dedicated "Population" section. The article critically examines the cartographic methods used for geological, climatic, hydrological, soil, and Caspian Sea maps, pointing out issues such as inconsistent scales, duplicated content, and unclear legends. Overall, the atlas is recognized as a valuable synthesis of regional knowledge, though certain cartographic aspects could be improved.

Р. С. Нарских; Г. А. Правоторова

The article reviews the comprehensive Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR, published in 1963 in Azerbaijani (10,000 copies) and Russian (20,000 copies). The atlas was compiled by scientists from the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR and other academic institutions, with the participation of specialists from ministries and departments. It contains 176 principal maps, 28 inset maps, numerous profiles, diagrams, tables and explanatory texts, with data mainly as of January 1, 1961. The atlas consists of an introduction and sections on introductory information, natural conditions, economy, cultural construction and history; the main map scales are 1:1,500,000, 1:2,500,000 and 1:3,000,000. The introductory section shows the geographical position of Azerbaijan, its share in the national economy, administrative divisions, the growth of Baku and population distribution. The natural conditions section includes six subsections: physical maps, geological and geomorphological maps, mineral resources, groundwater, climate and hydrology. Special attention is given to the 33 climatic maps, which reflect radiation, thermal, moisture and circulation conditions, as well as to detailed hydrological maps characterizing river networks, runoff, mudflows and water chemistry. The economic section covers industry, agriculture, transport and economic ties; ten economic-geographic regions are distinguished, and maps of agricultural specialization, mechanization, irrigation and mineral fertilizer application are presented. Cultural construction and history sections include maps of education, health care, resorts, archaeological and architectural monuments, showing the high cultural level and historical heritage. Alongside a positive assessment, the author notes some shortcomings: inconsistencies in showing mud volcanoes on geological and geomorphological maps, questionable boundaries of runoff zones on hydrological maps, occasional illogical ordering of maps within the agricultural subsection, lack of coordination between the Azerbaijan and Armenian atlases concerning similar natural maps, and unexplained local terminology in the Russian edition. Nevertheless, the atlas is characterized as a valuable scientific reference work, standing among the best domestic regional atlases, suitable for studying the nature and economy of the republic and for preliminary economic planning.

З. И. Мартынова; А. А. Минц

This article reviews the Comprehensive Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR, published in 1963. Compiled by a large team led by the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR, this scientific reference work contains 210 maps covering a wide range of topics, including natural conditions, economy, culture, and history. The article compares the atlas with similar previous publications, such as the Atlas of the Armenian SSR, and analyzes its structure and content in detail, highlighting its innovations, including a comprehensive map series of the Caspian Sea, soil erosion maps, and thermal water maps. At the same time, the article points out several shortcomings, such as population density maps that fail to reflect actual distribution, illogical ordering of some maps, and the absence of certain thematic maps. Overall, the atlas is considered a successful work of Soviet cartography, reflecting the natural, demographic, and economic characteristics of Azerbaijan.

A. F. Aslanikashvili; A. B. Baghdasaryan; S. G. Rustamov

This paper reviews the geographical atlases of the three Transcaucasian republics—Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia—published in the early 1960s. It notes that all three atlases were issued in large editions in both the respective national languages and Russian, with their formats, bindings, and main map scales (1:1,000,000 and 1:1,500,000 for Armenia; 1:1,500,000 and 1:2,500,000 for Azerbaijan and Georgia) determined by the size and configuration of each republic. The content generally follows the recommendations of the 1960 Moscow publication 'National Atlases,' yet each atlas incorporates thematic maps reflecting the specific natural and socio-economic conditions of its republic. By tabulating the number and percentage of maps devoted to natural conditions, population, national economy, culture and public health, and history, the paper systematically compares the structure and content of the three atlases.

K. A. Salishchev

The author reviews work on atlases of Soviet republics and oblasts published in 1961–64, containing maps on physical geography, population, economy and culture. He finds that these atlases suffer from a lack of practical purposefulness and inadequate coordination. These weaknesses are to be remedied in a new coordinated project of natural-resource atlases of the major republics and economic regions of the USSR initiated in 1963.

F. Vázquez Maure

In countries where the cartographic base is imprecise and geographical and statistical studies are limited, the task of producing a national atlas comparable to those of other nations faces great difficulties. However, there is always a need for a minimum of geographical data for all countries. This paper therefore proposes a relatively feasible abbreviated atlas, comprising fourteen plates, which are examined in detail. Except for climatology and agricultural production plates, which would include several maps, the whole country would be represented on a single map at the largest possible scale, grouping data with different colors. For instance, a hydrography map would integrate the river network, basins, reservoirs, irrigation zones, and flood-prone areas; an energy map would concentrate hydroelectric and thermal plants, coal mines, oil fields, power lines, and petroleum pipelines, with the most appropriate hierarchy. All plates are designed to include only data that governments or geographical centers can easily obtain.

A. Götz

This paper reviews four regional atlases published in the Soviet Union: those of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Irkutsk Oblast, and Kustanay Oblast. It analyzes their content structure, cartographic methods, strengths, and weaknesses. Key findings include: the atlases are particularly detailed in physical geography, featuring innovative maps such as engineering-geological, structural-tectonic zoning, mineral springs, agro-climatic zones, and synoptic processes; in the economic geography sections, agricultural maps are the most extensive, and for the first time in Soviet atlases, maps of freight transport intensity for both railways and highways appear. A common shortcoming remains the lack of population geography and demographic maps. The review concludes that these atlases represent significant progress over earlier Soviet regional atlases and serve as valuable resources for studying the geographic conditions of the Transcaucasian republics and the methodology of regional atlas compilation.

Ewelina Kłos

This article is an academic review of the Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR, published in 1963. Compiled by the Institute of Geography of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, the atlas contains 132 maps and 29 schematic diagrams, organized into five chapters covering natural conditions, economy, population, culture, and history. The author highly praises the atlas for its comprehensive content, originality (e.g., the Caspian Sea section and offshore oil and gas maps), and high cartographic quality, suggesting it could effectively replace a regional geography textbook. However, the review also notes shortcomings, including insufficient coverage of population issues and the use of population size rather than industrial output to indicate the scale of industrial centers.

G. Mammadov; J. Abdullayev; M. Bayramov