Vietnam

Rudi Ogrissek

This paper provides a detailed cartographic review of the Atlas of Vietnam published in Hanoi in 1964. Following the structure of a national atlas, the work suffers from uneven quality due to better source material for North Vietnam than for the South. The author analyzes each of the 16 maps covering political, physical, demographic, and economic themes, commending strengths such as the systematic legends and pictorial symbols in the industry map, while criticizing weaknesses including inappropriate color choices, incomplete legends, missing scales, and symbol sizes disproportionate to represented values. The review also addresses the balance between political messaging (e.g., North-South unity) and scientific expression. Despite methodological flaws, the atlas is recognized as a commendable achievement, though its binding quality fails to match its content's significance.

Р. И. Злотин; С. В. Зонн; Д. А. Лилиенберг; Я. Г. Машбиц; А. И. Фадеев; В. П. Чичагов

The article summarizes the experience of cooperation between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam in creating national atlases of these countries. The scientific concept of the atlases, the integrity and coverage of their themes, the combination of fundamental character and practical orientation, structural features, and integration potential are analyzed. The authors propose a working definition of a national atlas as a fundamental comprehensive cartographic work reflecting a special object of mapping—the nation-state as an integral entity in all its systemic complexity and the interaction of internal and external factors and historical prerequisites of its existence and development. The thematic structure of national atlases is examined in detail, noting that they should include main sections such as introductory, general geographical, historical-revolutionary, nature and natural resources, population, settlement, economy, socio-economic development, and social infrastructure. Based on the experience of creating four national atlases (totaling over 1,400 thematic maps), the authors formulate a series of principles for developing such atlases for countries with insufficient geographical and cartographic study, including: breadth of thematic coverage, reflection of the country's resource-ecological, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural specifics, provision of a realistic picture of the degree of comprehensive study, development of a flexible structure, and implementation as a special targeted program. The scale series of the atlases are analyzed. The systemic nature and integration potential of national atlases are emphasized, as they embody the most important features of comprehensive mapping, elevating it to the level of systemic cartography. In conclusion, the authors stress that national atlases can serve as an effective tool for sectoral and regional planning, as a summary of materials on the study of a country's territory, and can accelerate research when the territory is insufficiently studied, promoting the development of national scientific schools and the consolidation of research teams.

R. I. Zlotin; S. V. Zonn; D. A. Liliyenberg; Ya. G. Mashbits; A. I. Fadeyev; V. P. Chichagov

This article summarizes the experience gained from collaboration between the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences and geographers and cartographers of Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam in the creation of national atlases for these countries. The scientific concepts embodied in the atlases are analyzed, as well as the interrelationships and scope of topics, the combination of scientific and practical directions, and characteristics of their organization. Translated from: Izvestlya Akademli Nauk SSSR, serlya geograficheskaya, 1988, No. 3, pp. 31-38 by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005. At the current stage of world development and intensification of the global problems of mankind, the role of the system of geographical sciences increases in their recognition and solution. The study of natural resources, population, the economy, settlement, and social and ethnocultural factors requires improvement in traditional geographic and cartographic methods of research and geographic information and the development of new ones. Among the latter, the importance of complex mapping is increasing. Indeed, thematic maps and atlases represent an effective tool in the accumulation, analysis, and multipurpose use of diverse information of different scales. They are necessary in the organization and performance of complex regional research, sectoral and territorial planning, and the management of socioeconomic development. National atlases occupy a special place among complex cartographic works. They comprise an important class of basic scientific works devoted to the systematic characterization of a state (country) and of interaction of internal and external factors of its development. At the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the development of national atlases in conjunction with scientists of the socialist countries has a nearly fortyyear history. In 1965-1970, the first National Atlas of Cuba was prepared by Soviet and Cuban scientists, and received the critical acclaim of the international scientific community (more than 50 reviews) and in 1973 was awarded the State Prize of the USSR. In 1976, jointly with Mongolian scientists and scientists of the Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the scientific concept and schedule of work were determined for The National Atlas of Mongolia, which will appear in print in 1989. In the late 1980s a new National Atlas of Cuba and National Atlas of Vietnam will be published. Scientists of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences are also participating in their creation. Analysis of experience accumulated during creation of the four national atlases, including international collaboration in the design, compilation, and scientific editing of these works is of undoubted scientific and practical interest.

Nguyen Cam Van; Tran Anh Co

The National Atlas of Vietnam has long been a work of great expectation for the Vietnamese people. For many reasons, the Atlas is being published only this year. This article describes the main steps and process of its establishment and supplies general information about the first National Atlas of Vietnam. Through the Atlas, the authors' collective wishes to present an achievement that marks an important point in the development of geography and cartography in Vietnam.