Atlas Mira

Theodore Shabad reviews the Soviet Atlas Mira (1954), examining its regional coverage, scales, place-name treatment, and representation of disputed boundaries. The atlas depicts political-administrative boundaries, settlements, and transport routes on a hypsometric base, with information substantially current to mid-1953. Most of the Soviet Union and Europe appear at 1:2,500,000, while China, the United States, and selected strategic areas receive detailed coverage. Shabad praises the extent of coverage, legibility, color printing, and movable legend sheet. He notes the omission of detailed Soviet city maps and attributes it tentatively to stricter security regulations. Examples involving Kashmir, Israel, Korea, and the Sino-Indian boundary illustrate the atlas’s use of formal territorial claims or historical boundaries in some areas without representing de facto armistice lines.