Cameroon
National Atlases
Cameroon's national atlas tradition, as represented in this collection, emerges from a single but significant publication dating to 1956, during the late colonial era when the territory was under French administration. The sole atlas, produced by the Institut de Recherches Scientifiques du Cameroun, reflects an early post-war effort to systematically document the geographical, economic, and social characteristics of the region through cartographic synthesis. This work was part of a broader wave of regional atlas-making across Africa and other colonial territories, as noted in Ena L. Yonge's contemporary survey, which highlighted the growing global output of such atlases. The atlas's editorial approach likely combined field surveys and existing administrative data, presented in French, to create a baseline reference for planners and researchers. While limited in number, this 1956 volume holds historical importance as a foundational cartographic record of Cameroon, predating the country's independence in 1960. Its legacy lies in establishing a template for later national mapping efforts, though no subsequent editions appear in this collection. For visitors, this atlas offers a snapshot of how colonial-era science sought to define and understand a territory that would soon become a sovereign nation, making it a valuable artifact for studying the intersection of cartography, colonialism, and national identity formation.
Versions and Their Documents
This is the first volume of the national atlas tradition in our collection.
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Journal Article1962Regional atlases: a summary survey
Ena L. Yonge
This article provides a systematic summary review of approximately one hundred regional atlases from around the world, organized primarily by continent (or other large region) and then alphabetically by country within each group. The author begins by noting that the ever-increasing flood of atlases—national, regional, topical, and special—makes individual reviews impossible, thus necessitating summary evaluations to acknowledge important publications while respecting space constraints. The review covers representative works from Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America, and South America, encompassing road atlases, historical-geographical atlases, national atlases, climatic atlases, economic atlases, and school atlases. Each atlas is assessed in terms of its compiling institution, editors, scales, number of plates, content structure, cartographic techniques, printing quality, and scholarly value, with notable features and shortcomings highlighted. For instance, the European section evaluates works such as the Euroatlas, Atlas östliches Mitteleuropa, Atlas von Niederösterreich, Atlas de Belgique, Climatic Atlas of Czechoslovakia, Atlas of Denmark, and Atlas of Finland, while the American section covers state atlases from Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, as well as national atlases from Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. The article emphasizes that these atlases not only reflect the research standards of geography and cartography in their respective countries but also serve as vital references for regional planning, economic development, historical research, and education. The author concludes by acknowledging that no single individual can possess sufficient expertise across all aspects of geography, cartography, and linguistics to render definitive critical judgments, yet such summaries offer valuable guidance to scholars, with a forthcoming review of world atlases and special atlases announced.
- Book Section1974Les Activités Cartographiques à l'ORSTOM: Atlas National du Cameroun
François Bonnet Dupeyron
This article reviews the central role of the French Institute of Research for Development (ORSTOM) in the production of the National Atlas of Cameroon. Initiated in 1956, this atlas was a pioneering achievement among ORSTOM's African national atlas projects. The paper details the atlas's design principles, including a multi-scale mapping strategy based on 1/2,000,000, a loose-leaf format for easy updates, and a phased thematic publication plan. It covers the early publication of physical environment maps (climate, geology, soils), subsequent geophysical and medical geography maps, and forthcoming human and economic thematic maps. The article particularly highlights innovative methods in human maps for depicting population distribution, ethnic groups, and density, reflecting ORSTOM's integrated approach to combining natural and human elements in cartography.
From the Physical Collection
Photographs are being prepared for this hall.