Introduction to the National Atlas of China

The article presents the 1965 Natural Atlas and the 1969 provincial atlas as the two substantially completed products of a planned four-volume national atlas. It describes the provincial atlas as a detailed set of 27 provincial and municipal general maps, supplemented by a national administrative map, designed to show settlements, transport networks, terrain, and their spatial relationships for planning, research, and education. The Natural Atlas organizes closely related material into eight thematic groups covering overview maps, geology, landforms, climate, hydrology, soils, biology, and oceans. The reviewer calls it one of China’s finest cartographic works, praising its synthesis of contemporary natural-geography research, expert and cartographic collaboration, thoughtful design, and high production quality; an accompanying explanatory volume of about 350,000 Chinese characters is also valued as an independent geographical work.