Besprechungen: Atlas de Colombia

Summary

This is an academic review of the Atlas de Colombia, published in 1966 by the Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi in Bogotá. The review provides a detailed account of the atlas's structure and content: an introductory section of about 20 pages offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of Colombia's geography, population, history, and economy; a section on cosmography, astronomy, and physical geography includes instructive diagrams on map projections and official topographic mapping; the historical part features facsimiles of rare maps dating back to 1570, including Humboldt's 1826 general map of Colombia; the core section of 74 pages presents a wealth of thematic maps covering geology, hydrography, flora and fauna, population, mining, agriculture, industry, and transportation; and the final section contains overview maps of the country's 24 administrative divisions with city plans of their capitals. The reviewer praises the atlas for its meticulous compilation, thematic richness, and excellent printing quality, considering it a worthy addition to the series of national atlases, while regretting that Germany lacks a comparable work.