Croatia
National Atlases
The cartographic tradition of Croatia, situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Central/Southeast Europe, has deep roots reaching back to antiquity. Ptolemy’s fifth map of Europe already marked this territory, and centuries of maritime and overland trade sustained a continuous practice of mapmaking. However, the modern national atlas tradition crystallized only after Croatia’s independence in the early 1990s. The sole atlas in this collection, published in 1993 by the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute, stands as a testament to that pivotal moment. Titled *A Concise Atlas of the Republic of Croatia & of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina*, it was compiled in English, reflecting an intent to introduce the newly recognized state to the international community. Its editorial approach combined concise thematic maps with clear geopolitical framing, offering a compact yet authoritative overview of Croatia’s territory and its immediate neighbor. This work not only filled an urgent informational gap but also asserted Croatia’s place in European cartographic scholarship. Its publication marked a foundational step, influencing later national atlases and reinforcing the role of cartography in nation-building. Today, it remains a key reference for understanding how a young state used maps to define itself on the world stage.
Versions and Their Documents
This is the first volume of the national atlas tradition in our collection.
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Journal Article1996Atlas Cartography in Croatia
Željka Richter
The position of Croatia at the contact of Mediterranean coast and Central and Southeast Europe aroused scientists and cartographers to investigate this region since the prehistoric times. As a result, many beautiful master-pieces in the fields of cartography have been done through the centuries. At the end of our century we have witnessed the disintegration of multinational states and the creation of a large number of smaller states, such as Croatia. All those changes contributed to the new geopolitical structure of Europe and to the fundamental alternation of the European map. For 45 years of so-called communist regime, Croatia was represented as a part of Yugoslavia, so the European knowledge about it has been very skimpy and partly inaccurate. This is an important reason to take a new, systematic, scientific and methodical approach based on the new concept and topics. In this paper the focus is on the new cartographic approach in the Cartographic Department of The Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute.
- Journal Article2002National- und regionalatlanten und nationale/regionale identität
Peter Jordan
National and Regional Atlases and National/Regional Identity Publishers of national and regional atlases aim not only to convey information but also to present national and regional identity. The article presents four atlases: the Tyrol Atlas, the Regional Atlas of Lower and Opole Silesia, the Concise Atlas of the Republic of Croatia & of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and the Slovenian National Atlas. The author defines what kind of national or regional identity the atlases convey.
- Journal Article2004National and Regional Atlases as an Expression of National/Regional Identities: New Examples from Post-Communist Europe
Peter Jordan
This paper examines national and regional atlases from four post-communist European countries—Slovenia, Croatia, Polish Silesia, and Romania—as expressions of national or regional identity. The analysis reveals that these atlases construct and reinforce specific identity narratives through thematic choices including historical maps, dialect distributions, emigration networks, and border evolution. Slovenia emphasizes its Alpine character and ancient cultural heritage; Croatia highlights historical continuity and an ethnic corpus extending beyond state borders; the Silesian atlas integrates multiple historical identities, including the sensitive issue of postwar population exchange; Romania traces national origins back to Roman times. The study concludes that atlases serve not merely as geographic references but as significant instruments for constructing political and cultural identity, with their content and cartographic methods deeply reflecting identity politics within specific historical contexts.
From the Physical Collection
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