Atlas Narodov Mira

Gordon W. Hewes reviews Atlas Narodov Mira (1964), edited by S. I. Bruk and V. S. Apenchenko, describing its 60 ethnic maps, 11 population-density maps, and population tables covering 910 ethnic groups around 1961, including populations of recent colonial and immigrant origin. The review examines ambiguities among ethnic, linguistic, religious, racial, and nationality classifications, citing regional examples of inconsistent criteria, omitted minorities, and erroneous labels. Hewes praises the cartography and careful compilation, judging the atlas a reasonably realistic representation of modern ethnic complexity that supports mapping health, education, and economic data by ethnic group. He also calls for an atlas of tribal distributions in the “ethnographic present” and urges publication of an English-language edition.