Harka’s maps
- Publication
- Nepali Times
- Issue
- 333
- Pages
- 8–9
Nepal
2006–2008Mark Turin reviews the 2006 Nepal Atlas and Statistics, edited by Harka Gurung and published by Himal Books. It contains 95 maps, five diagrams and accompanying statistical tables, organized into Setting, Physical Basis, Socio-Cultural Aspects, Economic Sectors and Development Indicators. Turin praises many maps as vivid and well constructed, highlighting infant mortality, legal and criminal cases, and historical territorial expansion. He notes that the government-derived statistics share the data-quality limitations of the other census-based atlases reviewed. He also criticizes the higher secondary school enrolment and agricultural credit maps for excessively dark or indistinguishable colours that make them difficult to read.
View whole-article summary
Mark Turin reviews three Nepal atlases published in 2006 with Harka Gurung as principal author or editor. Based on the 2001 census, the Nepal Atlas of Ethnic and Caste Groups and the Nepal Atlas of Language Groups present district-level distributions of 103 officially recognised ethnic groups and 93 languages. Turin values their baseline information but identifies questionable ethnic and linguistic data and distribution difficulties. Nepal Atlas and Statistics contains 95 maps, five diagrams, and statistical tables covering physical, sociocultural, economic, and development topics. Turin praises several maps’ visual effectiveness while criticising indistinguishable colours in others and stressing that weaknesses in official data constrain the reliability of all three volumes.
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