Liberia
National Atlases
The national atlas tradition of Liberia, though limited in scope, reflects a pivotal moment in the country’s post-independence development planning. The sole atlas in this collection, the *Republic of Liberia: Planning and Development Atlas* (1983), was produced in English during a period when the government sought to harness cartographic knowledge for economic and infrastructural modernization. This atlas stands as a testament to the intersection of geography and statecraft, offering thematic maps that likely depicted land use, natural resources, population distribution, and transportation networks—essential tools for policymakers and international donors. Its compilation style, typical of development-oriented atlases of the era, prioritized practical data visualization over comprehensive national coverage, emphasizing regions earmarked for investment. While no contemporary reviews or later scholarly assessments are preserved in this archive, the atlas’s very existence underscores Liberia’s engagement with modern cartographic practices, albeit as a singular effort rather than an enduring tradition. Its legacy lies in its role as a snapshot of national aspirations during the early 1980s, before the country’s subsequent civil conflicts disrupted such institutional endeavors. For visitors, this atlas offers a rare glimpse into how a small West African nation articulated its spatial identity and development goals through the medium of a national atlas.
Versions and Their Documents
This is the first volume of the national atlas tradition in our collection.
Contemporary and Later Comment
- Blog Post2014The 1983 Planning and Development Atlas – a forgotten document?
Fred P.M. van der Kraaij
Published in 1983 by Liberia’s Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs in cooperation with GTZ, the Planning and Development Atlas compiles 37 maps, 45 pages of text, 68 figures, and 104 tables on population, resources, and infrastructure, chiefly using the 1962 and 1974 censuses. The author argues that it may be a largely forgotten and possibly unavailable source in Liberia, where civil war destroyed much historical demographic and socioeconomic data and the 1984 census report was never published in full. A map of mineral resources and concessions documents offshore petroleum exploration rights granted decades before Liberia’s 2011 Chevron agreement, illustrating the atlas’s value for historical economic research and informed policymaking.
From the Physical Collection
Photographs are being prepared for this hall.