Demographic Atlas of Albania: Pilot project for a National Atlas Information System in a South East European transformation country. Mapping approaches into a changing world

Summary

The authors describe the conception, compilation and production of the Demographic Atlas of Albania (Atlasi Gjeografik PopullsisÎ ShqipÎrisÎ, AGPS), the linked population atlas, as a prototype for a cumulative national atlas and a future national atlas information system (NAIS). Earlier national-atlas plans lacked funding; the pilot, supported through DAAD’s academic reconstruction programme, tested successive thematic volumes sharing a common cartographic structure. Intended for broad national and international audiences, AGPS uses Albanian, English and German text and prioritises a printed volume. Its 65 thematic maps cover population structure, distribution, change, migration, ethnicity, religion, education and medical care, supplemented by nine geographical reference maps. Compilation combined the 2001 and 1989 censuses, archival records and selected field surveys. Historical statistics were harmonised to current administrative divisions, with some series extending to the 1920s. A digital topographic base was assembled from existing maps, satellite imagery and military-origin databases. The workflow linked ArcView data management to Freehand map construction through Mapublisher, using choropleths, diagrams and dot maps; an administrative transparency supports locational reference. Mixed Albanian-German teams divided data acquisition, GIS processing, visualisation and printing, with printing and binding undertaken in Albania under technical supervision and staff training. The authors judge the printed atlas a successful proof of concept, while calling for stronger printing and binding quality control. They report favourable audience responses and continued multinational cooperation, outline a proposed economic atlas, and distinguish these plans from work on an electronic AGPS prototype intended for internet release in 2005.