Book Review Section: National Atlas of Hungary, Vol. 3: Society

Peter Jordan reviews the 2021 National Atlas of Hungary, Vol. 3: Society (191 pages), tracing its treatment of population change, migration, population structures, settlement history and systems, urban and rural development, and living conditions across Hungary and frequently the wider Carpathian Basin. He highlights comparisons of Roma self-identification and population estimates, historical religious change, education and employment, suburbanization, and the socioeconomic advantages of the Budapest agglomeration and Northern Transdanubia. Jordan praises the combination of thematic area colours with hill shading and the coordinated use of maps, tables, diagrams, texts and photographs, acknowledging the work required to harmonize data and classifications across countries. His reservations concern unclear territorial coverage in a vital-statistics table, area mapping’s insensitivity to population density, ethnic terminology, uneven administrative units that hinder cross-country comparison, and rural landscape naming. He regards the volume as a highlight of modern atlas cartography and anticipates the remaining volumes.