50 Years of Soviet Cartography

Summary

Nikishov and Terekhov review the content and techniques of major Soviet maps and atlases and their provision for education, research, and economic planning. The visible opening traces the centralization of state cartographic work in 1919 and Lenin’s instructions for early atlases, then discusses hypsometric mapping, industrial atlases, regional reference atlases, the Great Soviet Atlas of the World, military reference atlases, and school maps. The authors emphasize the connection between industrial mapping and national economic planning and praise the technical quality and reception of these publications; the Great Soviet Atlas of the World received the Grand Prix at the 1937 Paris exhibition. The closing sections propose expanding scientific-reference mapping for economic planning, international collaboration, and mapping of foreign regions, while advancing world history, Soviet history, and world economic atlases. The historical atlases remained planned or under preparation. Research priorities include improving thematic classifications and standardizing legends and symbols, developing objective generalization methods, refining resource-evaluation and typological mapping, and improving map use for economic tasks. The authors recommend a centre for collecting and analysing source materials, identify inadequate coordination among institutions, and report that an interdepartmental commission is being established. The original abstract states that most publications appeared after World War II, but the corresponding main discussion is not included in the supplied excerpts.