Conference Paper

Atlas mapping in Tanzania: An African case study

By Mike Shand; Eugene Silayo· 1996

Tanganyika · Version 1

1942–1948

The survey's section on the Atlas of the Tanganyika Territory treats the 1942 first edition and the 1948 second edition together as the country's first national atlas. It records that the 1942 edition was produced at the Survey Division, Department of Lands and Mines, Dar es Salaam, and remarks that it was the only national atlas published anywhere during the Second World War. The 1942 edition is described as printed in full colour with 29 pages containing 44 maps at various scales, a statistical section and tables, short descriptive text panels and a gazetteer, in a book format 56 cm high and 59 cm wide; most of the 18 full-size map plates are at 1:4,000,000 and cover physical and natural environment topics, and a further 9 plates reproduce 23 historical maps at various scales. The 1948 edition is noted for revised information and five new maps and graphs of mineral production, portraying soils, hydrography, vegetation, malarial areas and principal mines. The author adds that base maps for all editions of the national atlas are derived from the 1:2,000,000 topographic map, the largest published scale covering the whole country on a single sheet.

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The continent of Africa has a long history of atlas production at both regional and national levels. The countries of East Africa are no exception to this, hence the history of atlas production in Tanzania can be mirrored in many other countries across the African continent. The first part of this paper will review the history of atlas publication in Africa and Tanzania, making special reference to the source data and base maps; atlas contents, formats and scales; and the cartographic production methods adopted for atlases of Tanzania. Six separate editions of a "national" atlas of Tanzania have been published to date, one of German East Africa, three of Tanganyika and two for the Republic of Tanzania. In addition there have been numerous general, specialist/thematic and school atlases published by educational establishments and commercial companies for both East Africa and Tanzania. Atlas production can be a time consuming and costly process requiring a large collaborative effort by several organisations and many individuals with scientific and cultural expertise in both physical and human geography and in the field of mapping and topographic science for the map production process. The second part of this paper will discuss the impact of current digital mapping technology on national and commercial atlas production, with a view to (i) the revision or production of a new edition of a national Atlas of Tanzania, (ii) the production of a demographic atlas and (iii) the creation of a small scale cartographic data base. A series of completed sample atlas sheets of Tanzania, created by digital mapping methods and utilising desk top publishing technology, will be cited in this part of the paper. The discussion will concentrate on a comparison of analogue and digital atlas production methods and consider their role in the future of atlas publication in Tanzania and Africa.